Maria Yolanda Alvarez-Rivera: The European Union

Federal Government Dept: The goal of the new rules, according to the federal government, is to weed out bogus cases more quickly, but some worry it doesn't offer legitimate claimants enough time to prepare their cases, according to CBC. "I fled because I received death threats. I had no choice but to put my children somewhere safe and flee the country to protect myself," Alvarez-Rivera said through an interpreter and a new system for granting refugee status came into force this weekend, allowing claimants from the European Union, Croatia and the United States to have their applications fast-tracked. For Maria Yolanda Alvarez-Rivera, this is the first Christmas she's spending with her children after fleeing El Salvador for the United States, where she sought asylum and then entered Canada illegally. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.