Before Gary Anandasangari became Canada's minister of public safety, his office repeatedly asked government officials about the woman's immigration application. Tamil Tigers member, according to court records.
Rajini Rajmanoharan's immigration file shows that between 2019 and 2020, Anandasangari's staff made three requests about her case to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
At the time, Rajmanoharan had already been deported from Canada and was trying to return, but border officials said she was not eligible to be a “member” of the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers.
Case appeared publicly last weekwhen the Federal Court upheld the government's decision to reject Rajmanoharan's immigration application on the grounds that she was a member of the Tigers.
This was the second such incident since Anandasangari became Minister of Public Security: Global News reported in July that he wrote letters urging immigration officials to approve the immigration application of another “member of the Tamil Tigers.”
The minister's spokesman said calls to immigration officials regarding Rajmanoharan “were general in nature and sought updates on the status of applications, which is a routine task carried out by any MP's office.”
She wasn't component.
The Tigers, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE, are separatist guerrillas who raised funds in Canada, sometimes through intimidation and extortion, as they fought a failed civil war in Sri Lanka, an island off the southern tip of India.
Canada placed the group on its list of terrorist organizations in 2006, citing the LTTE's campaign of political killings and bombing of civilians in Sri Lanka and India.
The conflict ended in 2009, but the Tigers remain on Canada's terrorist list, which says the group “has an international fundraising and procurement network that continues to exist.”
In May, Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Anandasangari as secretary of public safety, putting him in charge of federal agencies responsible for ensuring migrants are not associated with terrorist groups.
But after he was sworn in as Minister of Public Security, Anandasangari announced that he was giving up of decisions regarding the Tamil Tigers and their proposed Canadian fundraising arm, World Tamil Movement.
Statements by Gary Anandasangari
According to Anandasangari's spokesperson, Rajmanoharan's husband “appealed to the minister's election office in 2016 seeking assistance in family reunification.”
“It is not uncommon for Tamil Canadians to reach out to us given that the minister has polling staff who speak Tamil.”
Because the husband did not live in the Anandasangari area, the MP's office “repeatedly advised the man to seek assistance from his local MP”, the spokesman said.
“The minister's office did not provide a letter of support to this individual.”
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According to Rajmanoharan's immigration file, the requests from Anandasangari's office were for “case-specific information” and were all made by one of his employees identified only as Doreen.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangari (second from left) with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing, October 17, 2025.
CBSA
Rajmanoharan, a 51-year-old teacher married to a Canadian, denies being a member of the LTTE and says she was forced to work for the group. Her lawyer did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Asked about Anandasangari's involvement in the case, an immigration department spokesman said that while MPs can speak on behalf of their constituents, “the final decisions rest solely with IRCC.”
Liberal MP Mary Ng's office also made repeated inquiries about Rajmanoharan's case, records show. Ng represented the constituency neighboring Anandasangari's home but resigned ahead of the 2025 federal election.
MPs routinely contact Immigration Canada on behalf of constituents seeking permanent residence in Canada and their families. Anandasangari said he stopped doing this when he joined the cabinet in 2023.
But Rajmanoharan and Senthuran SelvakumaranCanadian border officials claimed that both were members of the LTTE.
The minister delegated decisions to “guardians,” documents show
Amid a trade war waged by US President Donald Trump, who has complained about migrant and drug smuggling, Carney tasked Anandasangari with tightening Canada's borders.
But documents released by Global News under the Access to Information Act show Anandasangari passed decisions related to the Tamil Tigers to his deputy minister, Trisha Geddes, and to a second person, whose name was redacted.
“The Minister has asked us to meet to discuss the implementation of the screen below and for both of us to be its custodians,” the unidentified official wrote to Geddes in a June 6 email.
A spokesman for the minister told Global News that the second official responsible for vetting Anandasangari on matters related to the two terrorist groups is his chief of staff, Francois Giroux.
An activist with the Canadian Tamil Congress before running as the Liberals in Scarborough-Guildwood Rouge Park in 2015, the minister would say only that he withdrew “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Forced” work in the Tamil Tigers camp
Court records show family members of Rajmanoharan's husband, with whom she has two Canadian children, asked deputies for help in her immigration case.
According to records published by the Federal Court, Anandasangari's office made inquiries to IRCC regarding her immigration application on July 23, 2019, February 6, 2020 and November 2, 2020.
According to her dossier, Rajmanoharan told immigration officials that she was “forced to work” for the LTTE in 1993 and 1994. She said she worked as a cook in an LTTE camp and cared for wounded militants.
Between 1998 and 2006, part of her salary also went to the rebels. She said her contributions were deducted from her salary before she was paid. “I have never directly given money to the LTTE.”
“I have never had anything to do with terrorism.”
She arrived in Canada in 2008 and applied for refugee status, which was rejected. The Canada Border Services Agency also said in a 2011 report that she was inadmissible because she was a member of the LTTE, but did not pursue that part of her case until later.
Deported back to Sri Lanka in 2014.Rajmanoharan again applied for immigration but was rejected after the CBSA's national security screening department again stated that she was a member of the LTTE.
“While food preparation may not be an operational role in the organization, the petitioner has nonetheless enhanced the effectiveness of the LTTE by providing functional support,” the CBSA wrote in its 2021 report.
“Furthermore, the applicant also stated that she provided assistance to wounded soldiers. While the type of assistance she provided is unclear, it should be considered that her contribution could have contributed to their return to combat, thereby improving the organization's operational capabilities.”
On March 25, 2024, the Canadian High Commission in Colombo informed Rajmanoharan in a letter that she was not allowed entry into Canada because she was “a member of the LTTE as understood in Canadian jurisprudence.”
The letter also stated that her Canadian husband was not entitled to sponsor her immigration because he had sponsored the family of his previous wife, who nevertheless received a $140,000 benefit.
She appealed this decision to the Federal Court, but on October 15 judge dismissed the casesupporting the Canadian visa officer's decision to exclude her from membership in the LTTE.
“The minister and his team of constituencies have not provided material support to anyone who has been deemed unacceptable. In fact, the minister has made it clear on numerous occasions that he condemns terrorism in all its forms,” said an Anandasangari spokesman.
