Letter: MP shouldn’t take credit for Figueroa's release

Langley Times
​posted Jan 8, 2016 at 1:00 AM
Editor: At long last, José Figueroa was able to leave the Langley church that he has not left for two years.
He could not leave because the previous government had decided that he should be deported to his native El Salvador.
His crime? He had been a member of a resistance movement that was fighting against the military dictatorship that at that time ruled El Salvador.
If a dictatorship took over in Canada, I would step forward to fight to overthrow that government.  Democracy matters.
The group that Figueroa was supporting is now the democratically elected government in El Salvador.
Back in Canada, the previous government  chose to treat Figueroa like he was some sort of terrorist who should be forced to return to El Salvador, leaving his wife and Canadian-born children behind. This from a government that claimed to believe in family.
This from a government that I am sorry to say I did support in the past (prior to the most recent election).
This brings us back to the present and the Langley-Aldergrove Conservative MP, Mark Warawa. Recently, I was driving along and heard him on a radio interview taking some credit for Figueroa’s release.
While Warawa did write some letters and try to work with his government to secure Figueroa’s rights, he refused to admit that his government was the one that forced Figueroa to stay in the church, away from his family, for the past two years.
I was disgusted with Warawa for taking to the airwaves at all.  If he had been willing to admit his government’s error I would have had some respect for his efforts. Instead he chose to follow the party line of a defeated  government. What kind of MP does that provide for Langley?
Eric O’Dell,
Surrey

Leon Jensen
I give full credit to Jose's friends and supporters such as yourself, the City of Langley and the others that kept his name in the paper and on line. Glad to see that the community stepped forward and ensured that the process was stalled until the new government came in and ensured that the case was reviewed with compassion and concern towards the Figueroa family.