After they took my son from me, I asked the social workers not to send my son back to the U.S. but to have him in care in Canada instead. They ignored my wishes and sent my son back to Washington state authorities. I then asked that my son be placed with a relative, my aunt, who was a stranger to my son, only because I thought it would be easier to get my son back from family than non-family. Russ Radi didn't want my son to go to relatives and was trying to refuse my request, but the social workers heard me and made arrangements.
Russ Radi had me sit in the same holding cell, where he yelled at me that he had been kind and merciful, and that the reason my son and I were not together now, was because I disobeyed his orders to leave the country.
He brought out the paper he'd forced me to sign, under threat of imprisonment, where I "voluntarily" agree to go back to the U.S. with my son.
I told Russ Radi I was not violating any law at all, and I was not guilty of any crime, because I had met up with "friends" on the way out, and my circumstances changed immediately so that I was no longer without "sponsors" or "friends" and without "sufficient funds".
He wanted me to explain the details and I told him I'd talked to a lawyer, who had 20 years experience Queen's Counsel, and this lawyer gave me instructions and legal advice and said I was perfectly alright, even though I had expressed doubt. I gave Russ Radi the name of this lawyer I had seen.
Russ said to explain what had changed and I told him I met up with people, and then I found a job. I also told him that I had a place to live with my son, and that we were no longer liable to be a financial "burden" to Canada, and that I had been instructed as how to go about obtaining a work visa.
Prior to being accosted at the Wal-Mart, Bruce had been trying to get me to leave and I said I couldn't. He said why didn't I go to another state in the U.S. and I said they would just extradite me and my son and it wouldn't be difficult. Bruce told me if I ever spoke with immigration offices, not to discuss anything about what happened with the Catholic church or the FBI. He said to only talk about my and my son's medical problems and the inability to get normal care in the U.S.
I told Russ Radi that I had a contract agreement for the position to work as a nanny, and that this woman had said she was going to apply for a work visa for me herself. First, according to Canadian immigration laws, you have to get a job, and then you apply for a visa.
Bruce had been telling me I'd have to go outside of Canada to make application for the visa, but the lawyer had said this wouldn't be necessary, and the woman who said she was hiring me said she would make the application herself.
Russ Radi took this document from me, made a copy of it, and then claimed he had evidence I was violating immigration laws by attempting to become a citizen. He'd asked me if I wanted to be a citizen before, and I said sure, but that wasn't my immediate plan of action. My immediate plan to begin with had been to travel through Canada to Toronto. It hadn't even been to request "political asylum" because I already knew the U.S. is on some kind of "white list" where it's presumed everyone in the U.S. is "safe" or can move about to safety. I had planned to find refuge and friends in Toronto, where I guessed some people could still remember the days when large groups of Protestants were forced out of work by a Catholic majority, and they then had to settle in Toronto.
When I was arrested for supposed forgery or perversion of justice, I threw in political asylum, because it wasn't untrue, it just hadn't been plan #1, so I wouldn't be accused of being a criminal. I did have legitimate reasons for attempting to disguise my identity and it was for my and my son's protection.
When offered a job, I thought I could contribute to Canada's economy and earn a little money and then be on my way with my son. I had planned, at every turn, to do it legally.
I do not think it was a mistake that I was arrested on a Friday night, and then told I could not speak to a lawyer over the weekend. They used the entire weekend, knowing there would be no access to a lawyer, to punish me with jail. I do not believe it was a mistake. Not only that, even after the weekend, I was still refused the right to call a lawyer, which I'll get into.
Russ Radi said I had had the fortune of running into some "good people" who were willing to take me and my son in, but that I had done this by getting sympathy with my son. He claimed I had broken the law by not leaving the country. I said I wanted him to show me that law, out of the immigration legal rules. He came back with a book, and pointed out a law to me, that clearly did NOT fit.
I know enough about law to know what fits and doesn't fit. I made successful motions agains the Abbey and a newspaper, on my own, which held up in court for years, by having the good judgement to know what "fits" and does not "fit". Russ Radi was making excuses.
He was looking for any reason at all to separate me from my son, and I had done nothing in violation of immigration law.
Because I had not even started working as a nanny, and only had shelter and essentials established, it couldn't even be argued I was working illegally in the country. I could have decided against the job, and been a visitor for up to 6 months,under provisions of my new friend.
Nothing was illegal about my conduct at the time I was arrested. And despite false arrest, I did not yell or curse or throw a fit. I maintained a sense of calm, as Russ Radi said my son was given over to others and I was going to jail. He said if I wanted to fight for political asylum, I could do so, and I could be as "looney" as I wanted to be, and they wouldn't stop mentally ill people from wandering about Canada. But, he said, if I was fighting for political asylum, I was guaranteed to lose, and this after 2 years of processing, as my son was adopted out from under me in the states in the meantime.
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