types of cases, often involving children, have popped up in the past, but never moved beyond the plight of an individual family.

A 2005 Supreme Court decision involving the families of David Ralph Hilewitz, from South Africa, and Dirk Cornelis Jan de Jong, from the Netherlands, looked at the issue of excessive demand and inadmissibility.

Both families had a child with intellectual disabilities and had the financial means to pay for their children’s support, but immigration officials rejected their applications.

The Court ruled the applicants’ financial circumstances were relevant in the decision-making process and sent the cases back to the government for reconsideration.

READ MORE: Father sees mixed messages from feds on Down Syndrome

In 2016, the case of York University professor Felipe Montoya and his family, whose immigration application was denied becausehis 13-year-old son, Nicolas, had Down syndrome sparked significant attention.

A letter from Immigration Canada sent to Montoya references reports that Nicolas functions at the level of a three-year-old, and estimated special education costs for his condition at roughly $20,000 to $25,000 a year.

In the letter, an immigration officer cited the work of Brock University researcher, Sheila Bennett, as justification for the costs.

But Global News reviewed the research and found that nowhere in the article does Bennett mention anything with respect to the cost of providing care. In fact, Bennett says her research argues for “including students with exceptionalities.”

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