Petition and vigil to mourn death of Mexican woman in CBSA custody
VANCOUVER – Nearly 200 names had been added to a petition within hours of its launch as critics protest the death of a Mexican woman held by the Canada Border Services Agency at Vancouver’s airport.
The petition, authored by the group No One Is Illegal, is addressed to nine people, including CBSA officials, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
It calls for a full, independent civilian inquiry into the death of 42-year-old Lucia Vega Jimenez (heh-MEN’-ez) and a comprehensive review of migrant detention policies.
A release from the group says Vega Jimenez had a job as a hotel worker in Vancouver when she was arrested last month over an unpaid transit ticket, transferred to jail and then sent to the CBSA holding cells at the airport to await deportation.
The group says it has confirmed that Vega Jimenez attempted to hang herself in the holding cells and died one week later at a Vancouver hospital.
No One Is Illegal plans a vigil to honour the woman on Friday afternoon in front of the CBSA offices in downtown Vancouver.
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