“Masked Man” Gets Refugee Hearing Today

The Asian refugee claimant who made headlines by donning a silicone mask to look like an elderly white man is in front of an immigration panel today.

Lee Rankin, the lawyer representing the unidentified man, said that aside from the audacious disguise he used to fool airport officials when he boarded a flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, his client’s case is typical of the thousands of refugee claims Canada receives every year. Rankin also suggested that his client was under the direction of a human smuggler, who helped him obtain fake travel documents and a disguise to match. The man will appear before the Immigration and Refugee Board in Vancouver today for a routine detention hearing, which will determine whether officials have correctly confirmed his identity.