Showing posts with label Jeremy Hinzman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeremy Hinzman. Show all posts

September 23, 2008

Late-inning reprieve for U.S. deserter

Court pauses deportation order so ex-paratrooper with wife, two kids in Toronto can pursue appeal
Sep 23, 2008 04:30 AM

Staff Reporter

War resister Jeremy Hinzman has won a temporary reprieve to stay in Canada.

Hinzman, the first U.S. Army deserter to file for refugee status in Canada, will not be returned for the time being, which means for the moment at least he avoids prosecution for desertion, his lawyer Alyssa Manning said last night.

"We're elated," said Hinzman, 29. ``But we're by no means out of the woods yet.''

The next challenge Hinzman faces is winning leave to appeal his case to the Federal Court. "But we won't find that out for a couple of months," said the South Dakota native who lives in Parkdale with his wife and two children.

Hinzman was due to be deported today. His reprieve came after his lawyer argued to the Federal Court yesterday that an immigration officer had incorrectly assessed the hardships he and his family would face if forced to return to the U.S.

Manning told the court that expert evidence suggests U.S. soldiers who have spoken out against the 2003 U.S.-led Iraq invasion have been facing more punishment than other deserters.

Crown attorney Stephen Gold called this "speculation and surmise" but Justice Richard Mosley ruled that a stay in Hinzman's deportation order was appropriate.

Hinzman, who has worked in the past as a bike courier in Toronto, says he and his wife, Nga Nguyen, and children, Liam, 6, and 2-month-old Meghan, have been living off their savings in recent months. "When our compassionate and humanitarian application was turned down, my work permit was revoked (in August) ... We have a little bit (of money) so we've been okay," he said.

At the Toronto hearing yesterday "the judge said if our family was to be separated, that would be irreparable harm," said Hinzman, as he held his baby at Friends House, a Quaker centre on Lowther Ave. in Toronto.

He said he volunteered to go to war: "I wanted to make a better life for myself and my family."

The Rapid City, S.D., native joined the 82nd Airborne in January 2001. Three years later, he went AWOL and fled to Toronto just before his unit was scheduled to leave for Iraq.

After 2 1/2 years in the military, "I knew I wasn't a killer," he said. He was assigned to a non-combat role during a tour in Afghanistan.

With files from The Canadian Press

September 21, 2008

Liberals back U.S. war resister's bid to stay in Canada

Last Updated: Thursday, September 18, 2008 | 6:44 PM ET

Former U.S. soldier Jeremy Hinzman, shown here in 2006, has less than a week before his deportation deadline Tuesday.

Former U.S. soldier Jeremy Hinzman, shown here in 2006, has less than a week before his deportation deadline Tuesday. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)

With less than a week before U.S. Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman and his family are to be deported, the Liberals have reaffirmed their support for his fight to stay in Canada.

The 29-year-old Hinzman, his wife, Nga Nguyen, and their children — six-year-old Liam and six-week-old Meghan — have been ordered to leave Canada by Sept. 23 or face deportation.

If Hinzman is sent back to the U.S., he faces imprisonment and a criminal record.

Fresh off the campaign trail, Liberal Bob Rae spoke at a Toronto news conference Thursday with Hinzman.

Rae said the Liberals are still committed to keeping American war deserters in Canada.

He urged the government to support a motion passed earlier this year by all parties, except the Conservatives, to let conscientious objectors take up permanent residence.

"I don't think we should be having a situation where we're dead set on deportation in every situation, which seems to be the position of the government," Rae said.

Hinzman and his family came to Canada in 2004 after his attempts to gain conscientious objector status in the U.S. army were turned down.

His troop was about to be deployed to Iraq at the time, and he did not want to participate in what he called an immoral war.

Hinzman, who has applied for a stay of removal, said he's not expecting it to be granted.

"The Conservatives are ahead and they're not sympathetic to us in the least," he said, referring to opinion polls in advance of the Oct. 14. election.

With files from Canadian Press

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