By Karen Pauls, CBC News
Somali asylum seeker charged with assaulting a Canadian border guard last April has been deported — but it wasn’t those charges that had him removed.
Ahmed Adan Ali was deemed inadmissible to Canada because he had been earlier convicted of grand theft auto in the U.S. It’s considered “serious criminality” under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. If the crime had been committed here, it would have had been punishable by at least 10 years in prison.
“Mr. Ali, who had every hope to stay here, his pending criminal charges didn’t even prevent Canada from removing him,” said his defence lawyer, Amado Claros.
“The deportation was not because of those criminal charges. They ended up staying or dropping those charges as a result of him actually being removed from Canada. … From our perspective as defence, there are considerable trialable issues on the charges he was facing. Unfortunately, we were not given the opportunity to flesh out the evidence in court because he was removed.”
Ali’s Canadian legal troubles began after he walked over the border at Emerson, Man. on Apr. 7, 2017.
Ali, along with members of his family, had been living in Minneapolis as government-sponsored UNHCR convention refugees since 1999. Most of his family members are still in the U.S.
He had landed immigrant status but didn’t become a U.S. citizen — so he lost his status after being convicted of auto theft and other crimes in 2010 and 2013.
Ali served his time but was then sent to immigration detention. He was eventually released on a deportation order, but soon after, paid a driver $200 US for a ride to the border.
“I was fearing getting deported. I was thinking, coming over here, I could start over,” Ali told CBC News in May 2017.
However, Canada Border Services Agency officers at Emerson, Man., determined Ali was not eligible to remain in Canada because of his criminal record.
They detained him and said he was going to be deported.
Ali admits he got mad at that point. He swore at the officers and deliberately set off the sprinkler system in the detention room, but insists he didn’t threaten or assault anyone.
“I cussed them out. I said some bad stuff to her but I did not threaten,” he said.
Ali was charged with two counts of uttering threats, mischief over $5,000 and assaulting a peace officer.
He was living in Winnipeg when he was charged again, on June 24, with two counts of failing to comply with his bail conditions to not have contact with alcohol.
Read more: Somali asylum seeker deported for previous ‘serious criminality’
Source: CBC News
