An American soldier who fled to Canada to avoid fighting in Iraq is publicly pleading with immigration minister Jason Kenney to let her stay north of the border.

Kimberly Rivera has been told by the Federal Government that she has to leave Canada by September 20, after living in Toronto for the past five years.

At a news conference Friday morning, Rivera appeared alongside Amnesty International, the Canadian Labour Congress and the United Church of Canada, who are all supporting her in her demand to stay.

Rivera told reporters she has lived in Parkdale since 2007 with her husband and four children – two of which are born Canadians.

“My biggest fear is being separated from my children and having to sit in a prison for politically being against the war in Iraq,” she said.

Rivera is the first female U.S. war resister, and originally applied for refugee status but was rejected. Her claim is based on humanitarian compassionate grounds, and she may challenge the order to leave Canada on additional grounds that there were legal errors in her pre-removal risk assessment.

“The only thing that I guess I can really ask is that all of legal applications that I applied to be considered and my agency application also get a decision,” she said.

The war resisters support campaign said she will face harsh penalties if she is forced to return to the U.S. They report two other Iraq war resisters who were deported were sentenced to year long jail sentences after they arrived back home.