'Torn Apart'
A project exploring one family's story of family separation, the fight against deportation, and life without status.
In June 2019, Ismet Hajrizi was deported to Kosovo. Left behind in Canada were his two Canadian-born sons, his two undocumented daughters, Roksana and Camila, and his wife Celina. The latter three are all fighting to stay in the country, and have been for nearly a decade. This project, shot to accompany an as-told-to-style essay by Roksana, sought to capture life around the homestead for the family. It was published in
Broadview, November 2020 issue.
Since reporting this story, all three women in the family have had positive developments in their immigration cases. All three continue to fight for Ismet's return.