When it comes to Canada, the laws of this nation do not permit any foreigner who is a criminal or an alleged one. At the same time, exceptions might always crop up. And desertion is definitely not in there.

When it comes to deserting the armed forces, it is considered as crime in both United States and Canada. However, the American soldiers have seen Canada has a safe place from the American military authorities. It seems to be a common belief amongst the American soldiers that once crossing the border would make them safe.

A similar situation was also encountered during the Vietnam War when many draft dodgers and deserters had walked in Canada. Abandoning the military is considered as a crime in both the United States and Canada even then yet the Canadian government ignored this aspect. This might have been because Canadians were against the Vietnam War. At the same time, the US army was the key.

On the other hand, in today’s scenario, the US is involved in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These wars are not exactly opposed by the Canadian government. So, this time it might be difficult for the American soldiers to seek shelter in Canada. It is agreed that Canada was not exactly involved in the Iraq war. But then it has been one of the key players in the Afghan war. So, one side there is deserters living safely in Canada while there are those who are dying on the streets of Kandahar.

With the increased number of desertions, a new federal directive has instructed all the immigration officers to look into the criminal aspect of this form of desertion. Based on the criminal nature, these cases would then be referred to the superiors. This clearly projects that the number of deserters would be minimal with the tough laws in place.