Canada-based Kenyan nurse Joyce has opened up about a dramatic experience that she says left her fearing she could end up in jail after she sheltered immigrant families who arrived at her home during a severe snowstorm.
In a social media post, Joyce described the incident as “how I almost went to jail in Canada for love”, recalling how a humanitarian decision unexpectedly placed her in a difficult situation.
“During Donald Trump’s first term as U.S. president, many immigrants in America lived with growing fear about deportation and being forced to return to their countries,” Joyce said.
She explained that some immigrants began making the dangerous journey north towards Canada as they sought safety.
“At the time, I had been living in rural Northern Ontario for some time. I was the only Black person in my small community, and my home was not far from the Canada–U.S. border,” she recounted.
According to Joyce, everything changed one night when a severe snowstorm brought ten immigrant families to her doorstep.
“Then, one night during a terrible snowstorm, ten immigrant families arrived at my door. Many were from Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Some spoke English, while others spoke only French,” she said.
“They were freezing, exhausted, and carrying frightened children. I couldn't turn them away.”
Joyce said she immediately opened her home to the families, providing them with food, bathing facilities and somewhere to sleep.
“I welcomed them inside, gave them warm food, helped them shower, found them blankets and made space for them to sleep,” she said.
The unexpected visitors also had an impact on her own children, who Joyce said were excited to see other Black children in their home.
“My own children were actually happy to see so many Black children in the house. They played together, and that's how my children first began learning French,” she recalled.
However, Joyce said the humanitarian gesture was accompanied by growing fear about the possible consequences.
“For several days, my home became a temporary refuge. But I was also frightened. I didn't know whether I should call the police,” she said.
“I wanted the families to feel safe, but I also worried about my own family and whether I could get into trouble for sheltering them.”
Her fears intensified after a neighbour noticed the unusual activity around her home and alerted police.
“Then one day, a neighbour noticed the unusual movement around my house—the many people and children—and called the police,” Joyce said.
“When the police arrived, my heart sank. I was afraid of what would happen to everyone.”
According to Joyce, however, the situation did not unfold as she had feared. Police gathered the families and took them to a shelter where they could receive accommodation and assistance.
“Instead of chaos, the officers carefully gathered the families together and took them all to a shelter where they could receive proper accommodation and assistance,” she said.
Joyce said she later learned that the families had been settled and protected under asylum arrangements, eventually becoming Canadian citizens.
“Many years after this, none of them came back to tell me what happened to them,” she said.
She added that she sometimes encounters some of them at grocery stores, but claims they now act as though they never knew her.
“I however know that they were all settled and given protection under asylum, all of them are now citizens. Sometimes I see them at the grocery stores but they pretend they don't even know me,” Joyce said.