Immigration board orders Chinese fugitive to be released

Vancouver Province – Wed, 20 Jul, 2011

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  Immigration board orders Chinese fugitive to be released

A Chinese fugitive who has been fighting deportation from Canada for over a decade is a free man today.

Lai Changxing was ordered released from custody Wednesday by an immigration official in Vancouver who determined he wasn’t a high flight risk.

He still faces possible deportation as early as July 25, which will be decided by federal court starting Thursday

Adjudicator Geoff Rempel said Lai’s risk of flight could be mitigated by placing him under terms and conditions.

What those will be and whether CBSA lawyers will appeal the decision remains to be seen.

Rempel said CBSA lawyers did not provide “clear and compelling” evidence that Lai posed a strong flight risk.

Rempel noted that over the years, Lai has consistently shown up for both refugee hearings and generally reported as required to CBSA officers.

Rempel rendered his decision without hearing Lai’s lawyers’ submissions.

One of the central arguments Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) lawyers made during the two previous days in the hearing was that Lai posed a “high” flight risk.

They said because of his alleged connections with the Chinese underworld in B.C., he could easily get false travel documents which would enable him to flee the country.

Speaking in Mandarin to reporters prior to today’s hearing, Lai reportedly said he would respect the court’s decision, whatever it may be.

To back up their assertion, CBSA lawyers called a police witness, a Vancouver detective with decades of experience investigating Asian gangs in Canada, who testified to Lai’s alleged ties to criminal groups and activity.

But Rempel said in his reasons for decision Lai couldn’t have known the people he associated with were gang members or criminals.

“It would be unreasonable to expect Mr. Lai . . . to stop associating with any adults of Asian ethnicity,” Rempel said. “How is Mr. Lai to know . . . unless someone tells him.”

His comments echoed last week’s hearing decision by Leeann King, who ultimately said Lai should be released.

Rempel noted Lai has never been criminally charged, much less convicted of a crime in Canada.

He also said there has not been any evidence showing Lai has sought fake travel documents to flee.

When Lai was last at imminent risk for deportation in 2006, Rempel said even then he didn’t flee.

Lai entered Canada in 1999 after he stood accused of running a $10 billion importation racket in the Chinese city of Xiamen.

Up to 15 others implicated in the scheme have reportedly been put to death since.

Lai has been fighting a lengthy and complex court battle against deportation for 12 years.

During that time, it has been alleged Lai was involved with an illegal gaming operation in Richmond and that he associated with known Asian gangsters of the Big Circle Boys.

Fire destroys immigrant family's ID

Wed, 20 Jul, 2011

A large Calgary family is struggling to replace important documents after fire ripped through their northeast townhouse.

The upstairs floor of Abdulrazak Ali's rented home on Tarawood Lane N.E. was all but destroyed by a fire overnight Sunday. Much of his family's identification is gone.

"All the documents. Everything we have is gone. Nothing left," he said.

Ali said three of his children were born in Canada, while three were born in Somalia, the homeland of him and his wife.

Calgary immigration lawyer Michael Greene says getting new documents is fairly straightforward but can take time.

"There is processing times involved, and so people end up with little or no identification for long periods of time. If you look for instance on the government of Canada website for replacing citizenship documents, they'll tell you it takes ten months to process that application. Well, that would be a big problem for some people."

Greene says everyone should make photocopies of important documents and keep them in a safe place.

No one was hurt in the fire and firefighters credited a smoke alarm with saving the lives of the seven occupants.

Ottawa targets 1,800 in citizenship crackdown

Ottawa intends to revoke the citizenship of 1,800 people it believes obtained their status through fraudulent means, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says.

The decision to revoke citizenship is rare, and a large-scale crackdown such as this one appears to be unprecedented.

The people were identified through investigations conducted across the country by police and the Citizenship and Immigration Department. People identified by the investigations will receive letters informing them of the government's decision.

The move sends a "very clear message" to anyone who thinks of abusing Canada's citizenship system, Kenney said Wednesday.

"We are in the process of notifying them that we will revoke their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale," Kenney told reporters in Toronto.

"We believe that the vast majority of new Canadian citizens respect our laws," he said. "There is a small but not insignificant number who hired crooked consultants to obtain fake proof of residency."

The decision can be contested in Federal Court, which can be a long process. If individuals choose not to contest the decision, the federal cabinet will order their passports be voided and citizenship revoked.

Kenney said he didn't expect any of the identified cases to take legal action.

"There's a very fair and exhaustive legal process," he said. "We have strong, convincing evidence of the fraudulent activity happening."

Canada is also creating a new visa for frequent visitors, valid for 10 years with limitless entrances to the country, Kenney announced.

The visas will let people come to Canada for up to six months at a time, and as many times as they want, over the 10-year period. The new permit is expected to appeal to travellers who come to Canada frequently on business or to visit family.

Kenney made the announcement in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto.