A gay Christian Palestinian man who moved to Edmonton to escape death threats from his Hamas-linked family has been imprisoned in the United States.

John Calvin – who uses the pseudonym because of the threats on his life – was supposed to be deported by the Canadian government on Nov. 4. Instead, he fled south of the border and has been in prison since September.

Kim Bewick, spokeswoman for the Save John Calvin group, says Calvin was detained by American Border Control when he attempted to cross the border in September.

Since then he has been held in at least three federal correctional facilities in Maine and Massachusetts, Bewick said.

A hearing for his asylum claim is scheduled for January.

While Calvin was born into a family of Hamas members, at the age of 15 he questioned the antisemitism and violence.

Because of his family connections to Hamas, the Canadian government has deemed him a terrorist.

But Calvin’s rejection of his family’s extremist views led to death threats. His father told CNN he would order an honour killing of his son.

In the summer, Calvin was held in a maximum security facility in Ontario after a trip to the province for an interview with a magazine. While visiting a First Nations reserve, he got too close to a border point of entry and was detained.

Calvin told the Sun in July after his release that while imprisoned he was denied access to his lawyer, medication and basic hygiene.

catherine.griwkowsky@sunmedia.ca

@SunGriwkowskyC