During Vietnam 50,000 US draft dodgers and deserters fled to Canada, making it the largest upwards immigration of the US since the Revolutionary war. During the war Canada had one of the most open immigration policies in the world. Showing up with a job offer in Canada would grant a landed immigrant status on the spot. In addition people could also apply for immigrant status after arriving. In 1969, Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, instructed immigration authorities were not to discriminate against applicants who may not have fulfilled their military obligations in other countries, allowing both US war resisters and Czechoslovakian deserters to find refuge.
Over time the job market tightened and immigration is much more restricted. Immigrants need to apply and wait outside of Canada, encumbering those running from military service.
Refugee status, the other alternative, is unlikely to be granted to US residents because Canada considers it a democracy and closest ally. That said, war objectors who come to Canada will automatically receive protection, and will be allowed to stay until the claim is heard (months to years).
Canada was crucial in the effort to resist the war during Vietnam, and has never sent back a war resister until now. This case changes that.
The lawsuit filed calls into question the legality of the war, the crimes committed by the administration in charge, and the lies that lead the US into war.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080714.wwardeserter0714/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080714.wwardeserter0714&67
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