An Indian man whose wife is an accepted refugee in Canada is facing deportation with the couple's five-year-old son in what lawyers say is a troubling new practice of separating the families of people with protected status.

Ravi Chauhan and his young son are set to be deported Monday, leaving his wife, who is the child's mother, behind in Canada without the possibility of seeing her family for what could be years while they await permanent residency.

Lawyers and advocates say Chauhan's case reflects a broader change in which border officials are increasingly deporting the spouses and children of protected persons who were previously allowed to remain while applications were processed.