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Seeking Status, Forging Refuge: U.S. War Resister Migrations to Canada Alison Mountz

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Seeking Status, Forging Refuge: U.S. War Resister Migrations to Canada Alison Mountz Document generated on 10/02/2021 5:24 p.m. Refuge Canada's Journal on Refugees Revue canadienne sur les réfugiés Seeking Status, Forging Refuge: U.S. War Resister Migrations to Canada Alison Mountz Symposium: Beyond the Global Compacts Article abstract Volume 36, Number 1, 2020 Often people migrate through interstitial zones and categories between state territories, policies, or designations like “immigrant” or “refugee.” Where there URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1069756ar is no formal protection or legal status, people seek, forge, and find safe haven DOI: https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40648 in other ways, by other means, and by necessity. In this article, I argue that U.S. war resisters to Canada forged safe haven through broadly based social See table of contents movements. I develop this argument through examination of U.S. war-resister histories, focusing on two generations: U.S. citizens who came during the U.S.-led wars in Vietnam and, more recently, Afghanistan and Iraq. Resisters and activists forged refuge through alternative paths to protection, including Publisher(s) the creation of shelter, the pursuit of time-space trajectories that carried Centre for Refugee Studies, York University people away from war and militarism, the formation of social movements across the Canada-U.S. border, and legal challenges to state policies and practices. ISSN 0229-5113 (print) 1920-7336 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Mountz, A. (2020). Seeking Status, Forging Refuge: U.S. War Resister Migrations to Canada. Refuge, 36(1), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40648 Copyright (c), 2020 Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ Volume 36 Refuge Number 1 Seeking Status, Forging Refuge: U.S. War Resister Migrations to Canada1 Alison Mountz Abstract légal formels, les gens cherchent, forgent et trouvent refuge Often people migrate through interstitial zones and catego- d’autres façons, par d’autres moyens et par nécessité. Dans ries between state territories, policies, or designations like cet article, je soutiens que les résistants à la guerre étasu- “immigrant” or “refugee.” Where there is no formal protec- niens au Canada se sont forgé un lieu de refuge à travers de tion or legal status, people seek, forge, and find safe haven in vastes mouvements sociaux. Je développe cet argument en other ways, by other means, and by necessity. In this article, examinant les histoires des résistants à la guerre étasuniens I argue that U.S. war resisters to Canada forged safe haven et je me concentre sur deux générations: les citoyens améri- through broadly based social movements. I develop this cains venus pendant les guerres menées par les États-Unis argument through examination of U.S. war-resister histo- au Vietnam et, plus récemment, en Afghanistan et en Irak. ries, focusing on two generations: U.S. citizens who came Les résistants et les militants se sont forgé un refuge à travers during the U.S.-led wars in Vietnam and, more recently, des voies alternatives vers la protection, incluant la création Afghanistan and Iraq. Resisters and activists forged refuge de lieux d’hébergement, la poursuite de trajectoires menant through alternative paths to protection, including the crea- les gens à s’éloigner de la guerre et du militarisme, la for- tion of shelter, the pursuit of time-space trajectories that car- mation de mouvements sociaux par-delà la frontière entre ried people away from war and militarism, the formation of le Canada et les États-Unis et la contestation judiciaire des social movements across the Canada-U.S. border, and legal politiques et pratiques étatiques. challenges to state policies and practices. eople migrate routinely through interstitial zones Résumé and categories between state territories, policies, or Souvent, les migrants se trouvent dans des zones et caté- technical or legal designations like “migrant” or “refu- Pgee.” Where there is no formal protection or path to legal gories interstitielles entre les territoires des États, les poli- status, people seek and forge safe haven in other ways, by tiques publiques et les désignations comme « immigrant » other means, and for shorter times than legal status would ou « réfugié ». Là où il n’existe pas de protection et de statut © Alison Mountz, 2020. This open-access work is licensed under a Creative Com- Cette œuvre en libre accès fait l’objet d’une licence Creative Commons Attribu- mons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence, which permits use, tion-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, laquelle autorise l’utilisation, la reproduction, and distribution in any medium for non-commercial purposes, reproduction et la distribution de l’œuvre sur tout support à des fins non commer- provided the original authorship is credited and the original publication in Refuge: ciales, pourvu que l’auteur ou les auteurs originaux soient mentionnés et que la Canada’s Journal on Refugees is cited. publication originale dans Refuge : revue canadienne sur les réfugiés soit citée. 97 Volume 36 Refuge Number 1 confer. This article documents this phenomenon through and archives, explained below in more detail. While there is a examination of U.S. war-resister migration histories to Can- robust literature on resisters from the earlier generation, less ada, focusing on two generations of resisters: people who literature documents the more recent migration. This project emigrated during the U.S.-led wars in Vietnam and Iraq. No bolsters documentation of both generations and contributes single causal or “push” factor explains war-resister migra- a focus on the resonance and interactions between them. tion. Like other people, war resisters migrate for diverse rea- The research sought to understand meanings of safe sons. Researching across generations offers opportunities to haven and to situate these not only in geopolitical histories understand the patterns and divergence in outcomes across between Canada and the United States, but also in migration their journeys, as well as the distinct policy pathways, legal histories of war resisters. Objectives included those to (1) landscapes, and geopolitical relations through which they advance knowledge and extend historical records through entered Canada at different historical moments. Whereas documentation of resister histories, timely because of the most resisters who migrated to Canada during the Vietnam age of the first wave and the recent memory of the younger War found safe haven by immigrating through Canada’s new generation of resisters; (2) increase understanding of mean- points system, those who came during Iraq made refugee ings of asylum through analysis of the diversity of resisters’ claims and did not—for the most part—find safe haven. experiences of integration and return; (3) probe understand- Even where they did not find refuge in legal status, U.S. ings of U.S.-Canada relations through asylum claims from war-resister migrants forged refuge, even where none was soldiers; and (4) better understand how war resisters utilize formally available. Resisters and advocates forged refuge and challenge policies and practices in Canada. through alternative paths to protection, including the crea- This analysis proceeds with acknowledgment of the com- tion of shelter, the pursuit of time-space trajectories that plexity of researching Canada as both provider and denier carried people away from war and militarism, the location of refuge as a settler colonial state. Exploring the mythology of safe spaces of protection at finer-than-national scales, surrounding Canada’s reputation as a refuge here unfolds on the formation of social movements across the Canada-U.S. sovereign territory that dispossessed Indigenous peoples of border, and in legal challenges to state policies and practices. their traditional sovereign territories. As scholars observe, Study of such alternatives to formal, legal refugee status— refugee resettlement is also leveraged to mask geopolitical which may be temporary—promises to expand understand- histories such as Canada’s complicity in the Vietnam War.3 ings and explore alternative forms of protection and also In the next section of this article I briefly discuss research offers the opportunity to centre human agency and politici- methods. In the third section I explain the histories and zation in analyses of human displacement and migration in historical context of U.S. war-resister migration to Canada, the form of war resistance. mapping broad strokes—including parallels and divergent As such, this article shares findings from a research pro- trajectories and geopolitical contexts—across the two gener- ject that explored Canada’s role as safe haven for war resisters ations. In the fourth section I discuss research findings that crossing the border from the United States. These arrivals are demonstrate the forging of safe haven as an alternative solu- about the histories of individuals, households, and commu- tion to public policies. The final section offers brief analytical nities, but also about shared cross-border histories, and the discussion of these findings, outlining key contributions and geopolitical relations between Canada and the United States, whether they are applicable in other contexts for thinking which change over time. During the Vietnam War, the Cana- about alternative solutions to public policy. dian government and society eventually welcomed 50,000 U.S. war resisters, providing safe haven from militarism and Research Methods a mandatory draft.2 A more recent cohort of approximately This research examines the past in order to understand its 300 U.S.
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