TORONTO — The first female soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the Iraq war appealed on Wednesday the findings of a report that led to her deportation order.
Lawyers for Kimberly Rivera argued that 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., as ordered earlier this year by a Canadian court.
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 27-year-old, a private first class in the Army based at Fort Carson, served in Iraq in 2006. She said she 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.
She lives in Toronto with her husband and three children, the youngest of whom was born in Canada.
