ONTARIO, Canada — A Jamaican student athlete in Ontario says his family could be in danger if they are forced to return home to the island, as Canadian immigration officials move ahead with deportation proceedings.

Tamarri Lindo, 21, a top-ranked collegiate hurdler at York University and Canada’s number one indoor hurdler in the under-23 category, told CTV News he fears for his family’s safety.

“Honestly, I think it will be death,” Lindo shared. “It sucks that I have to say it goes to that extreme, but I definitely think it would potentially be death. Because if they ever find out that we are there, it will be a lot of consequences.”

Lindo arrived in Canada in April 2019 with his father, George, stepmother Jilandre, and younger sisters Tameah and Tamarli. George Lindo applied for refugee status, claiming the family had been targeted by gangs in Jamaica because of his political support for the People’s National Party (PNP). He said he had survived three assassination attempts and repeated threats.

READ: Olympic hopeful facing deportation to Jamaica after Canada rejects family’s asylum claim

“It got so bad that at times they would come out to the house looking for us,” Lindo recalled to CTV News. “The most traumatic experience I’ve ever had was when I was in the car with all my siblings, going to school, and they were threatening us to stay home or they were going to shoot up the car with all of us in it me and my little baby siblings.”

Last year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) rejected the family’s asylum application, saying there was insufficient evidence that the violence they experienced was directly linked to political activity. A senior immigration officer wrote that crime, including murder, is widespread in Jamaica and “any risk they face is not personalised”.

However, the family’s lawyer, Aidan Simardone, disputes that conclusion, calling it “complete nonsense”.

“We’re not talking about generalised violence,” Simardone was quoted as saying by CTV News. “We’re talking about someone who is being specifically targeted because of their political work. George was a member of the opposition. He was helping out the opposition. He was targeted for that reason.”

Following public pressure last year, the government granted the family a one-year extension. But Simardone said removal proceedings have now resumed. The Canada Border Services Agency has scheduled an interview for September 22, after which deportation could take place within days.

Simardone said a humanitarian and compassionate grounds application has been pending for more than two years, but it does not prevent deportation.

For Tamarri, the uncertainty jeopardises not only his Olympic ambitions but the sense of safety he found in Canada.

“When I came up here, I felt the first bit of safety I’ve ever felt in a very long time,” he told CTV News. “Honestly, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t even know where I’d start. I would just be completely broken.”