U.S. war deserter, mother of 3 must leave Canada
A mother of three young children reported to be the first U.S. female war deserter seeking asylum in Canada says she's been ordered to leave the country.
The former soldier moved to Toronto from Texas in early 2007 with her husband and two children after refusing redeployment to Iraq. In late November, she gave birth to a third child in Canada.
She had served in Iraq in 2006 as a gate guard at a forward operating base, according to the War Resisters Support Campaign. The advocacy group said Rivera is the first U.S. female war deserter to come to Canada.
Rivera said she was shocked by the decision and worries about her three children, who have come to see Canada as home.
"It kind of hurts and it feels like a piece of you is being ripped right out of you," she told CBC News.
Supporters had hoped immigration officials would allow her to stay in part because she has a six-week-old daughter, Katie Marie, born in Canada. Rivera's other children are Christian, 6, and Rebecca, 4.
"I was more hopeful about Kim's situation because she's a nursing mother and I thought they might take that into consideration," said Lee Zaslofsky, co-ordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign.
Zaslofsky said the federal government seems resolved not to allow any war deserters to remain in Canada — a position he believes is not supported by most Canadians.
The group says four other American military personnel and their families face deportation in January.
In July, Robin Long became the first American deserter removed by Canadian authorities. Long was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of desertion.
Last month, Cliff Cornell, a former U.S. soldier from Arkansas living in Nanaimo, B.C., was ordered to leave Canada by Dec. 24.
Deportation orders were also given to U.S. war deserters:
- Corey Glass.
- Jeremy Hinzman.
- Patrick Hart.
- Matt Lowell.
- Dean Walcott.
With files from the Canadian Press