Canada No Longer a Haven for U.S. Military Deserters

"The case of James Corey Glass, a 25-year-old sergeant in the California National Guard, has become the symbol of a Canadian government that no longer automatically welcomes deserters of the U.S. military as it did for them and draft avoiders during the Vietnam war. Nevertheless, a tug of war exists between the Canadian parliament, which wants to continue the welcome policy, and the Canadian executive, which wants to deport American deserters. The current Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while not supporting the Iraq War, has ordered about nine deserters to leave Canada, resulting in fierce litigation. Changes to immigration laws make it more difficult for deserters to remain in Canada. Deserters who want temporary legal status must be declared refugees. To gain refugee classification, a person must demonstrate a ?well-founded fear of being persecuted? for religious, racial or political reasons. Alternately, refugees must show that, if they were returned to their home country, they would be subjected to risk, or torture or ?cruel and unusual treatment or punishment...[more]"