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BC  

Can't shake terrorist label

An El Salvadoran asylum seeker who was granted permanent residency after spending two years in sanctuary in a British Columbia church to avoid deportation has again lost a fight to clear his name.

The Federal Court of Appeal rejected Jose Figueroa's request for a certificate from the minister of foreign affairs declaring that the man is not a terrorist.

Writing for the three-member panel, Justice Mark Noel says the original judge made no error in siding with the federal government.

Figueroa and his wife applied for refugee status after arriving in Canada two decades ago.

He says as a young man he belonged to a student union that backed a Salvadoran group Canada considered a terrorist organization, however the same group is now the country's elected government.

Figueroa was granted a ministerial exemption in late 2015, which allowed him to leave the Walnut Grove Lutheran Church in Langley, B.C., and apply for permanent resident status.



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