First U.S. female soldier to flee Iraq war for Canada ordered to leave by Jan. 27

3 hours ago

TORONTO — The first woman soldier to flee the U.S. military to avoid the Iraq war has been ordered deported along with her husband and their young children.

Kimberly Rivera said her risk assessment application and request to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds were rejected Wednesday.

"It's a pretty say day for me and my family - I haven't really had a chance to soak it all in," she said.

"We haven't gotten all of our bearings at the moment. Me and my husband will discuss our options and see what it is we can really do."

Rivera served in Iraq in 2006 and came to Canada the following year after she refused redeployment.

She lives in Toronto with her husband and three children - the youngest is six weeks old and was born in Canada.

The family must leave the country by Jan. 27 unless the order is reversed.

A group called the War Resisters Support Campaign says four other resisters and their families face deportation this month alone.

Campaign organizer Michelle Robidoux said the speed at which officials "are trying to move on this is shocking."

"There seems to be a concerted effort by this government to just be done with this issue," she said.

Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Patrick Hart, Matt Lowell and Dean Walcott are among the war resisters who have also been ordered to leave the country.

Last month, Citizenship and Immigration Canada told Cliff Cornell, a U.S. war resister from Arkansas living in Nanaimo, B.C., that he had to leave Canada by Dec. 24 or face removal by force.

Robidoux's group earlier called on the federal government to implement a motion adopted by Parliament last June.

It recommended that "conscientious objectors to wars not sanctioned by the Security Council of the United Nations" be allowed to remain in Canada and apply for permanent resident status.

The motion was adopted by a vote of 137-110 and also directed the government to stop deportation proceedings against war resisters living in Canada.

Federal Court is to hear an appeal by Hinzman against his deportation order on Feb. 10.