Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen, who goes by the name Jackie Tran, was released Tuesday from the Remand Centre, prompting police to voice concerns of potential violence given his criminal past. Yesterday, Paula Faber, an Immigration and Refugee Board spokeswoman, said an application was made by Canada Border Services Agency for an admissibility hearing. It was set for today but is being rescheduled. The hearing, which applies to permanent residents or foreign nationals, basically means border officials will argue for Tran to be deemed inadmissible to Canada. Faber said it can be argued on grounds an individual is involved in crime, a security threat or contravened Immigration and Refugee laws. The case at the hearing for Tran will be based "on new allegations," presented by the CSBA, she said.
Tran, 26, is a known gang member with an assault and drug-trafficking conviction who was ordered deported to Vietnam in 2004. Sources said Tran walked away uninjured after an attempt on his life in a 2005 shooting in Calgary. He was arrested this past January, hours after failing to turn up at an appeal hearing, at the funeral of fellow-gangster Mark Kim. Tran was held in custody since then because he was deemed a flight risk.
This week, he was released under strict conditions after posting a $20,000 bond. Yesterday, federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day weighed in on the case he calls frustrating. "However, rules that have been put in place, again, under a former Liberal regime, along with certain rulings that have set precedent, allow for a significant number of appeals," he told QR77 radio. He said Tran's lawyer has successfully used a "series of regulations and precedents in place to delay" the deportation order. "From the point of view of public safety and our CBSA officers, in situations like this we want to see people deported quickly," Day said. "We want people to have the ability to appeal but we don't want to see our laws abused. We don't want to see Canadians put under threat and under risk."