Randy Quaid faces deportation
TORONTO—American actor Randy Quaid said in an interview that he could be deported from Canada next week and that he would like to resolve his legal issues in California and “move on with my life.”
In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday from a detention center in Laval, Quebec, Quaid said he was arrested by Canada Border Services while doing a regular check-in on Tuesday.
“They won’t allow me to remain,” Quaid said.
Immigration and Refugee Board spokesman Robert Gervais said Quaid will have a detention review hearing Thursday, and confirmed the arrest. Officials said they were unable to give further details.
Quaid’s bid for permanent residency in Canada was denied in 2012, and it can take years for deportation to follow. He was arrested in Montreal in May after becoming the subject of a nationwide arrest warrant when he stopped checking in with border authorities. He later apologized and was released, with the requirement to check in every two weeks.
Quaid said he has a deportation order for Tuesday, and Thursday’s hearing is about whether he can remain in the country. He said there’s a chance authorities could delay the deportation for a few weeks.
The actor and his Canadian wife fled the U.S. in 2010, saying they were victims of persecution. Quaid has sought to stay in Canada, saying he was being hunted by “Hollywood star-whackers” who had killed his friends David Carradine and Heath Ledger.
The couple faces legal problems in the U.S. They began in 2010, when the Quaids were charged with trespassing and causing more than $5,000 in damage to the guesthouse of a California home they once owned. They were allegedly squatting in it when they were arrested. Two days before they were charged, they traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Santa Barbara Senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter said Wednesday there is an active extradition order for Quaid on a felony vandalism case, and prosecutors would be seeking his extradition if he’s returned to the United States. Carter said Quaid and his wife, Evi, also face felony charges for failing to appear at a November 2010 court hearing while out on bail.
“I probably will get arrested for all that. I’m perfectly willing to face all that stuff,” Quaid said Wednesday. “I would like to have the issues in Santa Barbara resolved so I can move on with my life.”
Randy Quaid is the older brother of actor Dennis Quaid and is best known for his roles in films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation and Independence Day.
“I don’t know how you go about correcting perceptions. It’s like trying to put the genie out back in the bottle. For 40 years I was well respected,” he told the AP.