VANCOUVER

Jose Figueroa still fighting to clear name years after deportation dropped

The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, March 21, 2017 7:55AM PDT Last Updated Tuesday, March 21, 2017 8:03AM PDT

Jose Figueroa, a refugee from El Salvador, is pictured in the Walnut Grove Lutheran Church in Langley, B.C. Friday, Oct.4, 2013. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

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Salvadoran Jose Figueroa isn't giving up on attempts to clear his name in Canada, after arriving as a refugee 20 years ago.

Now a law student at the University of Victoria, Figueroa spent two years in sanctuary in a Langley church when he was labelled a Salvadoran terrorist and ordered deported by the former Conservative government.

The order was dropped in December 2015, shortly after the federal Liberal party victory, but the government has refused to issue a certificate rescinding an Immigration Canada report linking him to a Salvadoran group with alleged ties to terrorism.

Court documents say Figueroa's application is unnecessary because he has since become a permanent resident, but he holds a news conference in Victoria today outlining a hearing Thursday in the Federal Court of Appeal as he continues the fight for the paperwork.