Good News! Out of US Detention and Now in Canada

What a relief!

A nine-year-old Canadian boy and his Iranian parents arrived safely in Toronto on Wednesday night after being held for six weeks in a Texas detention centre.

"Thank you for everybody who helped us," Kevin Yourdkhani said, clutching his bags at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Kevin and his parents, Majid Yourdkhani and Masomeh Alibegi, flew into the airport from Houston, landing in Toronto at about 5:45 p.m. ET. The couple had tears in their eyes after leaving the plane.

Photo credit: CP

A picture really is worth a thousand words. Thanks to everyone who responded to the action alert here and throughout the blogosphere and an extra-special thank you to Annamarie who has put her heart and energy into reaching this outcome since day one.
 

Iranian Family in US Detention Coming to Canada Soon

A tip of the hat to Ali in the comments for alerting me to this great news:

An Iranian couple and their nine-year-old Canadian son who have been held in a Texas detention centre have been given temporary residency permits to enter Canada.

A spokesman for Immigration and Citizenship Minister Diane Finley said Monday the minister granted the permit because it was in the best interest of the boy.

Kevin and his family were the focus of this action alert on my blog and so many others. I think we can now breath a sigh of relief for the fact that they'll be getting out of that horrendous T. Hutto facility sometime soon. I'd bet the publication of this letter in the Globe & Mail had a lot to do with more pressure being brought to bear on foreign affairs minister Peter Mackay to act as quickly as possible. There's no way it couldn't have had an impact on the hearts of Canadians.

The most important thing is that they will now be able to have their cases heard in Canada while living in decent conditions - unlike the prison-like atmosphere they have had to endure in Texas.

Huge kudos to Annamarie at Verbena-19 for staying on top of every development in this case and keeping me informed. She really is the very definition of activism in action.