The 29-year-old South Sudanese man arrested last week for posing as a teen says he hasn't been sure of his real age for years.
The 6-foot-9-inch Jonathan Nicola had been a star big man for an Ontario high school before he was taken into custody on April 15 for violating the Immigration Refugee Protection Act.
During his court hearing in Windsor Ontario on Tuesday, April 26, Nicola asserted that his mother, who is still living in South Sudan, never told him his true age. He "always keeps asking" her what his exact age is, but she has always told him she couldn't remember.
"Over [in South Sudan], not every year [do] we study," said Nicola. "We always keep moving to different schools, and over there, they do not ask your age."
Nicola's age was called into question back in December, when he filed papers to acquire a U.S. visitor's visa to play basketball in the States for Windsor's Catholic Central Secondary School. That's when the Canada Border Services Agency was alerted that the fingerprints of the so-called teen matched those of an individual who had been denied entry into the U.S.
The refugee had applied for a U.S. visa in Nairobi, Kenya in April 2015, but his hopes of entering the U.S. on a full scholarship were dashed when his application was declined.
A few months after being denied a U.S. visa, Nicola was given a student visa for Canada and joined the Windsor secondary school last November.
The alert from U.S. authorities last December informed the Canada Border Services Agency that, in the States, Nicola's date of birth was believed to be Nov. 1, 1986. His Canadian visa had listed his date of birth as Nov. 25, 1998.
Nicola pleaded for his return to South Sudan, though he has maintained that he didn't knowingly deceive immigration services. The man was denied release from custody and has been deemed a flight risk.
"I am not a liar person. I am religious. I pray to God. If something bad happen to me here, I do not know what would happen to my mother back home because she is really sick. She has diabetes," Nicola said.
"I did not came (sic) here to harm any people or do something bad. All my goal is to study and get the education, so I can go back home, I can help my mother, I can help all my rest of the family."
