When an American man first stepped on Canada after rowing through the border in a kayak earlier this month, his first stop was nothing less than Tim Hortons, he says.
“I hit the sand, I drugged my ‘Yak in the sand, prepared, I crossed the road to Timmies, I took a cup of coffee [and] He calmed down a little, “said Dan Livers on Monday.
The 51 -year -old livers arrived at the headlines two weeks ago when the police in the city of Lasalle, Ontario, said they found him around 1 in the morning trying to enter the country illegally. They said they delivered it to the federal authorities, but they did not give their name, and it was not clear what happened after that.
Now, he is in Windsor and tells his story.
Livers says he is a veteran of the American army who lived in western Michigan before his recent walk through the Detroit River. He says he has claimed asylum in Canada in the hope of finding peace to the north of the border.
On August 5, he left the coast of Michigan in a kayak that says he obtained for $ 25, crossing international shipping channels and landing about 12 kilometers south of the ambassadors bridge.
Livers says that once he left Tim Hortons, he tried to declare himself in a nearby fire station, but the staff told him not to handle such things. Then he decided that he would wait to meet the local police.
He says that approximately six hours later, he met a Lasalle police officer.
“Around 1 in the morning, a patrolman was doing his rounds and, you know, doing his job,” said Livers. “And I was there. He made contact with me and became him.”
The force said the officer was “carrying out commercial property controls” at that time.
Later that day, Lasalle Police said they had transferred him to the RCMP. The National Police Force, responsible for border security outside the official entry ports, confirmed the identity of the livers to CBC News.
The RCMP then brought live to Canadian border officials. The Canada Border Services Agency declined to comment on the specific case, citing privacy rules.
But Livers says that he has requested refugee protections and has been awarded a temporary status in Canada. He says he fears for his life at home, and that’s why he crossed in a kayak, not at an official border crossing.
“I remember that Eastern Germany was a child,” he said. “No one came through Checkpoint Charlie and I was not going to direct the ICE glove, the Sheriff’s department, the state police, whoever.”
Livers says he fears compensation after criticizing a non -profit group in Michigan who provides service dogs and works with the state government.
“Everything is true. All the nonsense you hear south of the border is true,” he said.
CBC News cannot verify the statements of the leivers. In any case, it will depend on him to demonstrate to the Canadian authorities that he has a real fear of persecution or serious damage in the United States, and that he would not be safe from the country.
You probably need to claim your case before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent court that decides whether asylum seekers can remain in the country in the long term.
Eddie Kadri, an immigration lawyer based in Windsor, said independently of the details of the statements of the livers, their chances of success are low.
“We have a fragile refugee system as it is, and it was certainly not designed or destined to be used by US citizens looking for legal status in Canada,” Kadri said in an email. “According to the Canadian law, the legal requirements that must be met so that a claimant is found that a refugee or a person who needs protection is quite difficult for an American citizen to comply with, if not impossible.”
Anyway, livers could be waiting for months or even years for a decision about their asylum claim. The federal government is working on a case portfolio.
For now, it is lodged in the center’s mission, a shelter in the Windsor core, and says that his experience in Canada has been excellent so far. However, strange to his dog, ortho and the friend who is taking care of him.
He knows that obtaining refugee protection will be difficult, but says he is prepared for the challenge.
“I just don’t want them to kill me and I hate looking over my shoulder,” he said. “I promise that I will do my best to be a good Canadian and defend your border, I swear.”
