Nova Scotia woman ordered deported to country she hasn't seen since childhood

Legal experts say a woman facing deportation to a country she hasn't been to since she was eight years old isn't receiving justice.

Debra Jane Spencer was born on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. She moved to Canada in 1993, but never became a Canadian citizen.

Spencer's two children, both of whom were born in Canada, were adopted by her own two sisters.

In 2014 Spencer was convicted of being an accessory after the fact in the murder of David William Rose. According to court documents, Spencer witnessed then-boyfriend Bradford Eugene Beals kill Rose in a rooming house on South Street in Halifax.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in federal prison. She served the mandatory two-thirds at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro. 

'A very sad and significant omission,' lawyer says

Because Spencer isn't a Canadian citizen, her sentence is subject to the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act. The law, introduced by the Harper government in 2013, states any permanent resident who commits a crime and receives a sentence of more than six months must be deported without the right to appeal.

Spencer found out this month she would be deported.

"She spent almost her whole life here. She has family here. Her children are here," sister Kelley Pozzolo told freelance journalist Erin Moore. 

"What is it that makes her less valuable and disposable like that?"

Her immigration status, however, was never mentioned at trial, nor at the sentencing.

That's troubling, Archie Kaiser, a law professor at Dalhousie University, said.

"That's a very sad and significant omission," Kaiser said. "I don't think anybody can walk away from this case feeling at all comfortable with the outcome."

Lawyers may have pursued a lesser charge or different sentence had they known, to avoid her deportation, he said.

'Please, please, please take her in'

Debra Spencer was six years old when she met her future adoptive mother Bobbie Spencer. Bobbie is Canadian and now lives in the Annapolis Valley. She was then volunteering in St. Vincent with a Canadian non-governmental organization. 

Debra grew up around violence and in poverty, she said.

"At one point her mother told me she was being sexually abused and would I please, please, please take her in — and I did," Bobbie Spencer said.

Spencer still suffers from her traumatic childhood of sexual abuse and neglect that caused her mental health and development challenges, her mother said.

'I have hope,' says Spencer's lawyer

It's why applying for Canadian citizenship wasn't a priority, she said.

Dartmouth lawyer Emilie Coyle is working Spencer's case pro bono. She plans to file an Application for Permanent Residence on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds, although she said it's a long shot. 

"I have hope," Coyle said. "What percentage of hope? I can't qualify that, but I have been frustrated and I think that these mechanisms are in place for this very reason, so I hope there will be some compassion shown to this woman who needs compassion."

Spencer was sent back to prison in Truro after her admissibility hearing last month. She was upset by the deportation order and correctional officers were concerned about her mental health.

'No way we can ensure her safety,' sister says

Spencer has since improved and is expected to be released to a halfway house.

A deportation date has not yet been set. 

"The fact is that, once she goes, there's no way we can ensure her safety. We just can't," Pozzolo said. "It's very terrifying."

A statement from the Canada Border Services Agency says it's committed to enforcing deportation orders as soon as possible once legal avenues have been exhausted.