Just before Christmas, nine-year-old Carlos Ochoa-Trueba announced to his mother that he intended to write a long letter to Santa Claus — and that his one request would be to stay in Canada.

But he also wanted to explain to Santa all the terrible things that had happened to his family in 2016.

That his father had been arrested by Canadian immigration officials. That he and his two younger siblings had to go into hiding with his mother. And that officials sent his family a letter saying Carlos's father would be deported to Mexico.

The whole family would to go there together, leaving behind the only home Carlos knew — his neighbourhood at College Street and Lansdowne Avenue in Toronto.

Carlos Trubea-Ochoa, 9, and his father, Israel Ochoa, are shown here playing video games. (Grant Linton/CBC)

But after spending two days on his letter to Santa, Carlos threw it away.

After CBC Toronto published a story about the family in the fall, 2017 is looking promising for the Trueba-Ochoas; Carlos's father's deportation order has been stayed and an appeal hearing is scheduled for March 15.

It was Carlos's mother, Nora Trueba, who suggested the boy abandon his letter.

"So I can throw the memory out," Carlos said. "Start the new year fresh."

Prioritizing the rights of the child

The family's first glimmer of hope came after Agnes Samler heard their story on Metro Morning — and felt that immigration officials hadn't taken the three boys into account.

Trueba and Israel Ochoa are undocumented workers who came to Canada 11 years ago and have been working ever since as cleaners at an expensive steakhouse in downtown Toronto. But Carlos and his two younger brothers, Luka and Kayden, were all born here.

The Trueba-Ochoa family has been granted a temporary deportation reprieve and will have an appeal hearing in March. (Canada Border Services Agency)

As head of Defence for Children International-Canada, Samler saw the decision to deport the father as a violation of his children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Although Canada ratified the Convention in 1991, Samler said Ottawa routinely contravenes what she calls "the gold standard for children's rights" by deporting undocumented workers with Canadian-born children.

It's unclear how many such children leave the country when their parents get deported, because the federal Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship doesn't track those figures. In theory, the parents could leave their children in Canada; in reality, that rarely happens.

A different letter

So Samler wrote a letter of support, hoping to delay Ochoa's deportation.

In it, she highlighted the fact that the man's children would be returning to an area where Global Affairs Canada warns citizens to exercise a "high degree of caution" when travelling because of the high rate of violence and organized crime in certain regions of Mexico.

And according to the UN Convention, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration whenever a child might be affected by deportation — and they have a right not be separated from their parents, except for compelling reasons.

Israel Ochoa and Nora Trueba came to Canada 11 years ago. They were recently granted a deportation appeal. (Grant Linton/CBC)

In this case, Samler's letter appears to have had some success.

Trueba and Ochoa learned of the reprieve as they were en route to immigration offices to show they had purchased five airline tickets — proof they would return to Mexico on Nov. 16 as ordered.

"Oh, my god, we were so happy," Trueba said. "It was a big, big, big surprise."

The deportation order was stayed, specifically, so that the court could consider the rights of the family's children, Trueba said.

"I didn't expect it," she said. "I was so happy. Everybody was hugging us."

Reason to hope

There were still more hugs at St. Helen Separate School, where Carlos attends Grade 4 and his brothers are in kindergarten. Their friends and teachers were overjoyed, the family said.

Maybe this time my dreams come. - Israel Ochoa, granted a deportation appeal

And ​Carlos's mother said she can already see a positive change in her eldest son, who spent the weeks following his father's deportation notice "often quiet and crying." She's seen a return of the funny, playful side that the boy used to reveal at home and with close friends.

With the court hearing still months away, the family knows their future is not yet secure — but they said it's hard to resist the urge to make plans.

Ochoa dreams of opening his own restaurant in Toronto.

"Maybe this time my dreams come," he said. "I like to see the chefs working, I like to see how the place works. I would like to have a restaurant. Because this country has many opportunities to make many things [and] to dream."