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Failed refugee claimant, MS-13 gang informant, identity thief and forger can stay in Canada
A failed refugee claimant convicted in the United States in 2006 and 2009 of identity theft and forgery has won a stay of the order issued by Canadian authorities last November to deport him to Honduras.
The man, identified only by the initials FGH in a recent Federal Court decision, “acted as an informant against the MS-13 gang in exchange for deferral of his removal from the United States.”
The refugee “served as an informant for approximately three months until members of MS-13 allegedly became aware of his cooperation with law enforcement. When he declined to continue acting as an informant, he was arrested and deported to Honduras,” in 2017, said the April 28 decision out of Vancouver.
FGH “entered Canada irregularly between ports of entry in November 2020,” said the decision. “He submitted a claim for refugee protection in April 2021. His claim was referred to the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board, but was suspended following a finding of serious criminality.”
FGH testified that he could experience “irreparable harm” if forced to return to Honduras.
“Following his deportation (from the U.S.) to Honduras in January 2017, he received threats by telephone from callers in the United States and Honduras who told him that they knew who he was, and that he had been ‘spying on them by helping the authorities,'” said the decision. “In March 2017, the applicant was pursued by armed men in a car, resulting in a serious accident. He lived in hiding for approximately four months before he fled to the United States.”
When FGH tried entering the U.S. in May 2017, authorities caught him and deported him to Honduras.
“He lived in different places until he fled to Israel, and then to Spain. There was no pathway to legal work or stability, and the applicant returned to Honduras in late 2019. He travelled through the United States to Canada in the summer of 2020.”
According to the Federal Court decision, “Honduran gangs threaten and use violence, including murder, against persons they consider to be a threat or who do not comply with their demands. Those targeted include: ‘People who (are perceived to have) collaborated with security forces, such as: informants, witnesses, and current and former gang members who (are perceived to have) leaked information.'”
The gangs can track people through their criminal networks, said the decision.
“People who are reportedly more likely to be tracked are: those who the group believes have betrayed them; those with important information about the gang; and former gang members. Family members of these groups may also be tracked,” said the decision. “A person who has a well-founded fear of persecution or serious harm from an organized criminal group is unlikely to obtain protection from the state.”
FGH’s sister submitted evidence describing “the killing of her former husband by gang members more than five years after he was first threatened, suggesting that the passage of time and efforts to avoid detection may not attenuate the risk,” said the decision
FGH requested a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) — his last-ditch bid to stay in Canada — last December. This past February, a senior immigration officer turned him down, finding “there was no evidence that MS-13 had attempted to locate or harm him since 2017.”
The same immigration officer “also found there was no objective evidence that MS-13 was aware that he had acted as an informant or had any ongoing interest in him. The officer noted that the applicant had lived in Honduras after his removal from the United States, and there was no evidence that he had experienced any harm or threats. The officer observed that the applicant’s evidence addressed generalized rather than personalized risks, and he had failed to rebut the presumption of adequate state protection in Honduras.”
FGH requested a deferral of his removal on April 7, but that was refused a week later by an inland enforcement officer with the Canada Border Services Agency, said the decision.
FGH took his case to a Federal Court judge, looking for an order staying his removal to Honduras pending determination of his application for a judicial review of his adverse PRRA.
“I am satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated, with clear and convincing non-speculative evidence, that he will suffer irreparable harm if he returns to Honduras,” wrote Justice Simon Fothergill.
FGH “notes that his criminal convictions were for non-violent offences committed more than ten years ago as part of his efforts to avoid detection in the United States,” said the judge.
“He has abided by Canadian law since his arrival in this country, and he has recently applied for criminal rehabilitation. He has married a Canadian citizen, and he hopes to eventually be sponsored for permanent residence.”
FGH’s lawyer “requested that his client’s name be anonymized, given the basis of his claim for protection in Canada,” Fothergill said, noting Immigration Minister Lena Diab did not oppose the request.
“I am satisfied that an anonymity order is necessary and proportionate to prevent ‘a risk of harm that rises above mere inconvenience or embarrassment,’” Fothergill said.
According to Public Safety Canada, MS-13, AKA La Mara Salvatrucha, “is a transnational criminal organization primarily operating out of El Salvador, with a significant presence in Honduras, Guatemala, and the United States. In El Salvador, MS-13 has evolved from its origins as a street gang into a criminal-economic-military-political power. MS-13 has engaged in widespread, targeted killings of law enforcement and other state officials; the indiscriminate killings of civilians; have used violence to shut down or seize control of vital public services; have established military-style training camps for its members; and have obtained military weapons in order to instill terror and enforce their will on the state and populace.”
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