Canada orders deportation of US soldier who evaded war

Associated Press

TORONTO

Canada has ordered the deportation of a female soldier who fled the U.S. military in order to avoid the war in Iraq, officials said Thursday.

War Resisters Support Campaign spokeswoman Michelle Robidoux said that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has ordered Kimberly Rivera to leave the country by Sept. 20.

Rivera is meeting with her lawyers to determine her next step and was unavailable to comment, said Robidoux.

“We are very upset about this decision,” said Robidoux. “The cases of war resisters are not being looked at properly. [Immigration Minister Jason] Kenney continues to intervene by telling immigration officers to red-flag U.S. soldiers who are applying for asylum as criminally inadmissible. We think that has tainted the whole process, and the government should withdraw that directive.”

Rivera, a 30-year-old Army private, served in Iraq in 2006. She crossed the border into Canada while on leave in February 2007, after she was ordered to serve another tour.

After arriving in Canada on leave, she applied for refugee status.

She lives in Toronto with her husband and four children. Her two youngest children were born in Canada.