US soldier makes case to remain in Canada

The first woman soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the Iraq war on Wednesday appealed the findings of a report that led to her deportation order.

Lawyers for Kimberly Rivera argued a Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration report did not adequately measure the potential risks the war resister could face if she were returned to the U.S. before a Canadian court ordered her to be deported earlier this year.

Rivera's lawyer, Alyssa Manning, argued in Canada's federal court that her client would more likely face a court martial and jail time instead of an administrative discharge because of her political opposition to the war. The report, Manning said, failed to account for this risk of "differential prosecution."

Manning also said the December 2007 report contained sections that were copied "word for word" from assessments carried out on two other war deserters four months earlier, she said.

"It's almost that the conclusion was reached before the evidence was even looked at," Manning said outside court.

Rivera is seeking a new risk assessment.

The 27-year-old, a private first class in the Army based at Fort Carson, Colorado, served in Iraq in 2006. She said became disillusioned with the mission, and in February 2007, while on a two-week leave in the U.S., she crossed the border into Canada after she was ordered to serve another tour there.

She lives in Toronto with her husband and three children, the youngest of which was born in Canada.

In her arguments, Manning cited cases of a number of U.S. war resisters, including Robin Long, the first resister to be successfully deported from Canada.

Long was given a dishonorable discharge in 2008 and sentenced to 15 months in a military prison after pleading guilty to charges of desertion.

Manning told court that 94 percent of all army deserters are given administrative discharges, but not those who air their beliefs in public.

"People who speak out about their political opinions get prosecuted," she said.

Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration lawyer Stephen Gold told the court that the conclusions in Rivera's risk assessment were "perfectly reasonable." The report fully considered whether Rivera would be at greater risk if she were returned to the U.S., Gold said.

Manning said that unless the court orders a new risk assessment, Rivera will probably be out of options.

"There are very limited avenues," she said. "I would say that today is essentially the last chance."

Rivera said even if she is deported and court-martialed, her opposition to the war will continue.

"It doesn't matter whether I get to stay in Canada or I have to leave Canada," she said. "I'll be the same as I am now."

It's not known when the court will deliver its final decision.

The lower house of Canada's Parliament passed a nonbinding motion in June urging that U.S. military deserters be allowed to stay in Canada, but the Conservative Party government ignored the vote.

During the Vietnam War, up to 90,000 Americans won refuge in Canada, most of them to avoid the military draft. Many were given permanent residence status that led to Canadian citizenship, but the majority went home after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty in the late 1970s.