U.S. army deserter to be deported from Canada

One of the first U.S. army deserters to seek refugee status in Canada when he learned his unit was to be deployed to Iraq faces an uncertain future after being served a deportation order.

The Canada Border Services Agency ordered Jeremy Hinzman, his wife, son and baby daughter born three weeks ago to leave by Sept. 23.

"I'm tremendously disappointed. We've been here nearly five years. We have lots of friends and family," Hinzman said outside the border services office in Mississauga, Ont., amid a smattering of friends and supporters, his wife and children with him.

"Life goes on and we'll make the most of it wherever we end up."

Citizenship and immigration officers denied two last-ditch applications to stay, one made under the pre-removal risk program and the other on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

While the pre-removal risk program requires the Toronto resident to prove he would face cruel and unusual punishment were he deported, the humanitarian appeal only requires him to prove he would face hardship, said Neil Wilson, Hinzman's legal advisor.

Hinzman has not decided whether he will appeal either decision, Wilson said.

Should he return to the United States, Hinzman faces a court martial, five years in prison and a dishonourable discharge, which would appear on his record as a felony conviction.

Hinzman, 29, was based in Fort Bragg, N.C., where he served in the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper.

After learning his unit was to be deployed to Iraq, Hinzman fled to Canada in January 2004, with his wife, Nga Nguyen, and son, seeking refugee status, on the basis that he refuses to participate in what he calls an immoral and illegal war.

"Iraq was an unjust war based on false pretences and every soldier who refused to fight probably saved a lot of lives," he said.

The Immigration and Refugee Board rejected his claim for refugee status in 2005, while the Federal Court of Appeal held that he wouldn't face any serious punishment if returned to the United States.

The Supreme Court refused to hear his case.

The decision to deport Hinzman came after a motion passed in Parliament in June, calling for deportations of war resisters to be stopped.

"This government is not abiding by democratic norms," said Michelle Robidoux of the War Resisters Support Campaign.

Federal NDP citizenship and immigration critic Olivia Chow, who put forward the June motion, called Wednesday's decision "mean-spirited," and called on Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley to halt the deportation of Hinzman and other war resisters immediately.