Judge sets aside ruling that granted U.S. trans woman's refugee status in Canada
CTV
An American transgender woman says she plans to appeal a Federal Court ruling that overturned the decision granting her refugee status in Canada and sent it back for redetermination.
An American transgender woman says she plans to appeal a Federal Court ruling that overturned the decision granting her refugee status in Canada and sent it back for redetermination.
In a decision released this week, Federal Court Justice Christine Pallotta found the Immigration and Refugee Board's appeal division made "reviewable errors" and an unreasonable decision to allow the application by Daria Bloodworth, who moved from Colorado to Canada in 2019.
Bloodworth applied for refugee protection in Canada over fears of transphobic persecution by U.S. society and individuals including an ex-roommate who menaced her with a gun, her former landlord, and a debt collection agency.
Her application for refugee status was initially denied in 2019, then approved on appeal in 2021, before the Canadian government sought a judicial review.
Bloodworth, who now lives in Whitehorse, said in an interview that she was "completely mystified" by the court's ruling, which was handed down in Vancouver, and is planning to take the case to the Federal Court of Appeal.
"I don't know why the minister decided to fight this in the first place," Bloodworth said. "It seems like they're wasting resources fighting little old me."
Bloodworth said that in 2019 she caught a flight from Denver to Calgary, where she made her original refugee claim, because the situation for trans people in America is "only getting worse."
