The mother of four presented herself at the Canada-U.S. border in Gananoque, Ont. on Thursday, where she was arrested and transferred to U.S. military custody.
“Kimberly now awaits punishment for refusing to return to Iraq, a conflict which Kimberly and Canada determined was wrong,” the group War Resisters Support Campaign said in a statement.
Rivera’s husband and children, two of whom were born in Canada, crossed the border separately on Thursday, according to the group’s spokesperson.
“She didn’t want her children to see her arrested by the military,” said Ken Marciniec.
The parliamentary secretary to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed the deportation in the House of Commons, drawing a huge cheer from the Conservative benches.
“Our government does not believe that the administration of the president or the president himself in any way, shape, or form, is going to persecute Ms. Rivera,” said Rick Dykstra, Conservative MP for St. Catharines, Ont.
While Rivera’s supporters were hoping for a last-minute intervention by the government, news of the 30-year-old’s deportation sparked a series of protests across the country.
The largest one was in Toronto, where Rivera has been living with her family since she moved to Canada in 2007.
Some 20,000 people also signed an online petition protesting the deportation order.
[hat tip: LittleSisMedia]
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