Early U.S. war deserter ordered deported
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
David Hutton, The Globe and Mail
August 14, 2008
One of the first U.S. army deserters from Iraq to seek refugee status has been ordered deported in a decision that sends the message that the Conservative government isn’t going to protect American soldiers who want to stay in Canada, immigration lawyers say.
Jeremy Hinzman, 29, deserted the army in 2004 after learning his unit was to be deployed to Iraq. He was handed the deportation order yesterday after a Citizenship and Immigration officer decided his application, filed under the preremoval risk assessment program, didn’t qualify. The program evaluates the risk a claimant will face if he or she is to be sent back.
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The decision also puts at risk similar applications filed by other U.S. deserters, which will be decided in the coming weeks, said Gordon Maynard, a prominent Vancouver immigration lawyer. Each appeal is decided on a case-by-case basis, and this isn’t precedent-setting, but the decision sends a message that U.S. deserters are going to find it impossible to stay without political support, he said. “There’s not a whole lot of options left for these guys,” Mr. Maynard said. “There are clearly political considerations here. … The law doesn’t offer protection to these guys. It will take a discretionary political decision to save them.”