“Obviously, this is a difficult time for his family, but I think he has accepted his position,” said Raj Sharma, Tran's lawyer.
Still, Sharma has not ruled out pursuing legal avenues to see Tran return.
“His entire life has been shaped in Canada. He’s got his mother here, his sister here. I think everyone wants to keep all options open, if it’s a possibility — a remote possibility — but a possibility nonetheless.”
Tran is in a fairly unique position of having two enforceable deportation orders against him.
He is being deported on one order issued for serious criminality, and a second one based on his alleged membership in a gang.
Tran received his first deportation order in 2004 after he was convicted for assault and drug trafficking. He appealed, and failed.
More recently, he failed in a bid to have a federal court find errors in the appeal and allow it to be heard again.
A January ruling to uphold the original appeal means the deportation order is enforceable.
Nevertheless, there is a date set for April in federal court where Tran could could ask revisit the other deportation based on his alleged gang affiliations.
Sharma said he intends to keep that appointment, even if Tran has already been sent away.
“I don’t see giving up; it hasn’t been his pattern to date,” Sharma said. “He continues to challenge these orders and it’s his right to do so."
Sharma said allegations of Tran's gang involvement are based on unnamed police sources.
“If you say, 'This guy is a gangster, but I can’t tell you the source of information,' you put a person in an impossible situation,” Sharma said.
“The fact is Mr. Tran is going to suffer very serious consequences on very limited evidence — that’s why we are taking it forward.”
Should he win that case and eventually see the order dismissed, it could mean Tran might have the opportunity to get a pardon and theoretically one day apply to return to Canada.
The 27-year-old, who has a younger sister, moved here with his mother from Vietnam in 1993.
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