Gang member freed amid deportation fight

A convicted drug trafficker and known gang member ordered deported four years ago is free in Calgary on $20,000 bond as his appeal process drags on.

Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen, 26, who goes by the name Jackie Tran, has been appealing an order to deport him from Canada since 2004. He was freed from custody on Tuesday.

Calgary police said on Wednesday they're worried Tran's release could attract violence from rival gangs, and involve innocent bystanders.

Staff Sgt. Gord Eiriksson said Tran has been the target of a shooting because of his involvement in a criminal gang.

"He's been involved with this group who has been involved in violence and a history of homicides that have occurred on the streets of Calgary, so naturally he will be a target," said Eiriksson.

"That risk is always present that if someone attempts to take his life that an innocent person could be hurt or killed."

A permanent resident in Canada since 1993, Tran racked up a criminal record in Calgary that included two convictions for drug trafficking and one for assault with a weapon, so immigration officials issued a removal order for him on April 20, 2004.

At Tran's appeal of that order, which allowed him to temporarily stay in Canada, he argued that he was a hard-working glass cutter who had been paying taxes for the past seven years. The Immigration and Refugee Board upheld the order, paving the way for his deportation.

But Tran then appealed that rejection to the federal Court of Appeal. On Oct. 2, the federal court ordered a new deportation appeal hearing for Tran, and on Oct. 17 granted his release on two $10,000 bonds.

The money must be proven to have come from legitimate means, and paid by a bonds person who meets guidelines set out by the Canada Border Services Agency.

Deemed a flight risk in January

Tran had been held at the Calgary Remand Centre since Jan. 10, when he missed an appeal hearing, because he was deemed a flight risk.

He was arrested at a funeral home viewing of slain gangster Mark Kim.

His lawyer, Michael Sherritt, successfully argued that his client should be freed pending the new hearing that begins next Thursday because the process has already dragged on for four years, and could potentially take just as long.

'They don't deserve due process like all ordinary citizens of the nation. They've already violated the trust that was given to them when they came here.' —Art Hanger

Calgary police said officers would be monitoring Tran closely to ensure he's abiding by his release conditions.

A new admissibility hearing had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, but it was cancelled for a closed-door meeting between Tran's lawyer and federal counsel, said Paula Faber, an Immigration and Refugee Board spokeswoman from Vancouver.

Outspoken crime critic and former Calgary MP Art Hanger blasted federal laws for allowing Tran so many appeals. "You cut those avenues off and force them out of the country. Let's change the law," he said.

"They don't deserve due process like all ordinary citizens of the nation. They've already violated the trust that was given to them when they came here, or allowed to come here."