TORONTO - United Steelworkers (USW) Ontario/Atlantic Director Wayne Fraser said Monday that the union is deeply saddened by the loss of Juana Tejada, the live-in caregiver whose struggle to remain in Canada under the federal Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) sparked a campaign to change immigration law and ensure a fair process to workers seeking permanent residence under the LCP.

Known as the Juana Tejada law, the changes are being championed by NDP MP Olivia Chow, who met Juana last summer and worked on her behalf.

An amendment to section 38(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) would include members of the Live-in Caregivers Class on the list of foreign nationals exempted from the "excessive demand" ground of inadmissibility.

Juana Tejada came to Canada after passing a rigorous medical exam but was refused permanent residence and ordered deported after contracting the cancer that ultimately resulted in her death Sunday at age 40. Juana was denied permanent residence twice by Canadian immigration authorities before finally being allowed to stay permanently following a vigorous public campaign on her behalf.

The proposed amendment would recognize that, if a caregiver has done her work and paid her taxes, she should be entitled to permanent resident status under the Live-in Caregiver Class after at least two years of working here, no matter what her medical condition is. The current immigration laws must be changed so that they do not disqualify hardworking caregivers from becoming permanent residents, only because they develop a medical condition that is clearly beyond her, or anyone's, control.

"Juana Tejada is a true hero and was a fighter for the rights of workers like herself," said Fraser. "She was a reserved person but was prepared to have her illness and her situation made public if would serve the greater good.

"She was a founding member of the Independent Workers Association, now known as iWorkers, because she felt live-in caregivers needed a stronger voice. Her wish was to have the immigration law changed in her lifetime. Now, it is in her memory that the USW urges Parliament to pass these changes as quickly as possible so that no other caregivers have to face the challenges that Juana did."

iWorkers is a collaborative effort of the USW and community-based Migrante Ontario.