Federal court overturns American transgender woman's persecution-based refugee claim
Federal court overturns American transgender woman's persecution-based refugee claim
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/14641130
35 comments
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Canada's Federal Court has overturned a decision granting refugee status to an American transgender woman who successfully argued that a combination of gun culture and rising transphobia left her at risk of persecution in the United States.
In a decision released this week, Judge Christine Pallotta said the Refugee Appeal Division erred in finding Colorado authorities were incapable of protecting Daria Bloodworth from a roommate she accused of stalking her — and that her safety couldn't be guaranteed elsewhere in the U.S.
"It was made pretty clear from the get go that this was going to be an uphill battle — winning this thing, or even staying in Canada a little bit longer and not get murdered in the U.S.," Bloodworth told the CBC.
Bloodworth came to Canada in 2019, seeking refugee protection in relation to claims that she was the target of threats and violence from a former roommate, her former landlord and a debt collection agency.
"The RPD failed to consider how Colorado's open carry gun laws combined with the general climate of anti-trans hatred growing in the US could make [her] perpetually vulnerable and at risk to her life," Mohan wrote.
The federal court ruling also says the appeal division failed to determine that internal flight was impossible — saying that "more than evidence demonstrating hardship and disadvantage" was needed to take New York City off the list.
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It makes sense to me that this person would feel unsafe in many parts of the US, and is likely at risk in their hometown. But I think the judge is right, America is a huge place, if you aren't safe in a conservative town you could move to a safer place in a different part of America.
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Hi, I'm the person the story's about.
Fort Collins is a college town in one of the few states that theoretically offer "full protections" for trans Americans. It's not "a conservative town". Might be a bit more conservative than Boulder, as it's the home of Colorado State University (formerly Colorado A&M) but it's not that much more conservative.
Also, I moved to Colorado for a reason, and it's because their laws purportedly protect transgender people fully. Shame that wasn't actually the case.
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With the way Canadian politics are going right now, it would be pretty hypocritical to accept trans refugees.
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former roommate, former landlord, and a debt collection agency
So she's actually just trying to run from debt because she was a bum roommate it would seem. This is the right call, shit isn't good, but nowhere near bad enough to warrant giving refugee status to any American. Otherwise would be smack in the face of refugees who ACTUALLY need asylum.
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You mean the same roommate who has been stalking her with a shotgun?
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Do you have proof that the roommate was stalking her with a shotgun, or are you just making assumptions? The article only mentions that she was threatened with the gun once, and makes no mention of subsequent occasions including any firearms.
Edit: a quick Google search of "Daria bloodworth shotgun" returns no results. Did you just invent the detail of it being a shotgun?
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That debt collection agency thing is a bit of an irritating aside, but since that part keeps getting covered, I'll address it here.
Back in 2020, I was getting increasingly vile and harassing e-mails from someone who purported to be from a debt collection agency. I forwarded that correspondence to the RPD. It was not part of my original claim. However, it would later turn out that this was not from a legitimate debt collection agency but rather, the result of a data breach. It was a scam e-mail.
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35 comments