The following article was published by the Calgary Sun on January 13, 2009. It highlights all that is wrong with the refugee determination system.
An imposter and criminal earns a 'shocking' and 'really heavy' year term after a decade of snaking his way through Canada's immigration system
By RICK BELL
Antonio Guifaro Zelaya isn't a headline grabber of a gangster story.
He's just another tale, a decade and more of a guy in a system few can stomach and a judge who had enough.
Antonio is 35 and from Honduras. He pleads guilty under a seldom prosecuted immigration law to having a false passport, using it to get into Canada, lying about who he was and where he was he was from so he could get into Canada, a place where he wasn't authorized to be.
We are in Courtroom 505. The man on the bench is provincial court Judge Les Grieve. He delivers Antonio's sentence and the judgment is written and handed out to all who want a copy.
But first he tells Antonio's story, an individual the judge says does not obey society's rules, attacks the safety and security of Canadians and is allowed to live here committing crimes, pushing his claim to stay, ahead of those in line applying as immigrants and sneaking back and back again "to a country who treated him so well."
In '95, Antonio's brother Santiago comes to Canada, makes a refugee claim. It's accepted. The same year, Antonio is in the States being sentenced for making threats to kill or maim.
The next year, Antonio's mother is shot and killed in Honduras. The same year, Antonio is sentenced in the States for drug possession.
In December '98, after illegally entering Guatemala, Mexico and the U.S., Antonio arrives at our border. He makes a refugee claim saying the father of the guy convicted of killing his mother threatened to kill him.
Antonio is allowed to stay for 21/2 years. His refugee claim is denied in the summer of 2000. A few months later, Antonio marries a Canadian. He has a deportation order hanging over his head, but is convicted of assault in May of '01.
He doesn't report for deportation and illegally enters the U.S. His wife gives birth to a daughter here in '02. Antonio is stateside in '03 convicted of driving over the legal alcohol limit, possessing an altered identity card, resisting police and obstructing justice.
Antonio sneaks into Canada in '04, stays until caught and then makes a claim to remain. He is not charged for coming in illegally. The next month, Antonio is sentenced for falsely using a credit card, possessing an illegal firearm with ammo among others.
Around this time he fathers a second child and is charged with a criminal offence and is released on bail. He breaches a condition of the bail and is convicted in '06. The next year, he's convicted of theft.
The learned judge points out, despite committing crimes while his claim to stay in Canada is being considered, Antonio remains here.
In mid '07, Antonio's claim is denied and he's escorted to Honduras, as the judge says, "no doubt at Canadian taxpayers' expense." His family is left on their own. Antonio is now separated from his wife.
In '08, Antonio is shot in the stomach in Honduras. The judge says many people are victims of violence in Honduras and, with the shooting coming 12 years after his mother's death, "it seems to be unrelated."
Antonio says it is related. There is no evidence. The learned judge says Antonio's credibility is suspect.
Antonio recovers and illegally travels to Mexico, befriends a young man, bribes a Mexican official and gets a Mexican passport using the identity of the young man's uncle and his own picture.
He flies to Calgary on Sept. 23 of last year and is not found out until he's in a traffic accident in November.
The provincial court judge, a former prosecutor, says Antonio "came here to improve his lifestyle." His claim of persecution is "likely imagined to gain entry as a refugee rather than getting in line to immigrate here."
He chose "ill-advised times in which to marry and father children" and "it would be sad if his wife and children should come to believe they were merely ploys ... to help increase his chances of staying in Canada."
For the judge it is "especially aggravating" Antonio "put his own selfish and self-centred interests ahead of the Canadian people's interests and the interests of other legitimate refugees."
He is not happy with Antonio's brother who "turned a blind eye" and "shielded his brother and his crimes."
The prosecutor seeks a year in jail. Antonio's lawyer says time served is enough and, if not, any time should be done in the community. Antonio gets the year, minus two-for-one credit for time already served. He has 71/2 months left behind bars.
The judge says Antonio "is committed to a criminal lifestyle" and has no "true remorse" and there's a "substantial likelihood" he'll commit more crimes in Canada.
Bjorn Harsanyi, Antonio's lawyer, says he might appeal and will fight to have Antonio stay here once he's out of jail.
The ex-immigration officer says the sentence is not what he expects. It seems "really heavy" and "shocking."
"It's not over," vows the lawyer. And, after a decade and more, it probably is not.
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