Monieya Jess has to constantly watch over her shoulder to make sure she’s not on the radar of immigration enforcement authorities.

On Wednesday, the Jamaican woman overcame her fear and spoke at a rally in Toronto, pleading with the Trudeau government for a long called-for regularization plan to give permanent status to the tens of thousands of non-status residents like her who live in the shadows in Canada.

“I am afraid, but I’m not afraid,” said the 35-year-old, who left her job as a migrant farm worker after suffering from work-related pain and lost her legal status in Canada in 2021.