Canada’s Freedom Convoy Founding Organizer is Seeking Political Asylum in the United States

As Canadians drove up to cottages and enjoyed family barbecues for Canada Day (ER: July 1), one of the founding organizers of the Freedom Convoy found himself alone in an RV park somewhere in the United States with two puppies and a mobile phone.

“I’m living in the middle of nowhere,” James Bauder told PressProgress on the eve of Canada’s national holiday. “I’m by myself. There’s me, myself and my dogs.”

The convoy leader is careful not to disclose details about his whereabouts, other than to suggest he can be found somewhere between “the North Pole and the South Pole.”

“I don’t go out in public, I just lay low,” Bauder confided. “It’s lonely. Other than my phone, I’d be going up the wall.”

Bauder is set to stand trial in Ottawa at the end of this year over his role in the Freedom Convoy. Bauder faces several criminal charges, including mischief, intimidation by blocking or obstructing a highway, obstructing a police officer, plus two counts of counselling others to commit indictable offences that were not committed.

The convoy leader not only maintains his innocence, but believes he is being persecuted by Canada’s government as part of what he characterizes as a “political prosecution.”

Despite his criminal case being handled “pro bono” by a team of lawyers from a convoy-friendly litigation charity called The Democracy Fund, Bauder was advised his chances of avoiding jail time are slim to none given the recent convictions of other convoy leaders, including Pat King, Chris Barber and Tamara Lich.

“‘There’s nothing we can do about it,’” Bauder said he was told. “You’re praying and you’re watching all of the people being charged go to court and get politically prosecuted, and then your lawyers phone you up and say, ‘James, we’ve got bad news for you — you’re going to jail.’”

As a Hail Mary gamble, the convoy leader has decided to take the unusual step of filing for political asylum in the United States to avoid standing trial in Ottawa.

“My only option on the chessboard was to claim political asylum,” Bauder explained. “We’ve flipped the game of chess back in my court. Now I have the Crown in check.”

Bauder says he is now a “political asylum refugee living in exile in the USA.”

Matthew Kolken, a high-profile New York state immigration lawyer, has been brought on board to help the Canadian asylum seeker seek refuge in the United States.

“He said, ‘This is very winnable,’” Bauder recalled. “‘You’re going to set legal precedents … this is a case of a lifetime.’”

Kolken, who is described as a “conservative influencer” by Fox News where he appears as an occasional commentator, told PressProgress he had “no comment” as to his client’s chance of success, but confirmed Bauder is formally applying for asylum under section 208 of the US Immigration and Nationality Act.

“Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States … irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum in accordance with this section,” Kolken noted.

As he waits for his asylum application to be processed, Bauder is quietly gaming out his next moves.

Over the coming weeks, Bauder plans to roll out an ambitious media strategy to raise awareness of his legal battles and an associated crowdfunding campaign that could involve appearances on big American cable news programs and support from allies connected to Trump’s White House.

“Some big, big names are going to be involved in covering this story,” Bauder promised, adding that there are “definite people that I’m working with that are very close to Trump and the Trump admin team.”

On Canada Day, Bauder had lunch with Paul Vallelly, a former military analyst for Fox News and a retired general who served as a commander of a US Army PSYOP group. Vallely advocates Canada becoming America’s 51st state, has close ties to former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn and is a prominent influencer in QAnon circles.

Vallelly posed for a photo with Bauder’s Canada-US “Freedom Convoy” flag and signed a note crediting Bauder for being a “great ‘patriot’ for Canada.”

Bauder is perhaps best known as a key author of the convoy’s controversial “Memorandum of Understanding,” a pseudolegal document proposing to give an unelected committee of convoy leaders and social media influencers, in conjunction with Canada’s Senators and Governor General, the power to repeal COVID-19 public health rules. The MOU was later withdrawn.

“James Bauder and his group, Canada Unity, sought support for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that, on its face, called for the Governor General to change Canada’s system of government if all COVID-19 restrictions were not repealed,” the Emergencies Act inquiry’s final report found.

Bauder adamantly denies leading an insurrection or trying to “overthrow the government,” insisting that his proposed committee was intended to investigate whether the government had broken the law.

“What we had wanted to do was form a committee of people like Dr. Jordan Peterson, Randy Hillier, get a committee of good, respected, smart brainiacs,” Bauder explained. “They would work side-by-side with the Senate to investigate publicly the laws.”

Asked what he foresaw happening to Canada’s democratically-elected members of Parliament under his plan, Bauder clarified that the MOU was only a first draft and said he expected the Senate or Governor General would have provided feedback and proposed amendments.

“We’re not lawyers,” Bauder stressed. “Three truck drivers wrote the darn thing.”

“I humbly, humbly apologize if Canadians felt that that was the premise of it,” Bauder added. “I apologize to Canadians over and over and over. I’m sorry if there were a few words that got construed and slurred around and misrepresented with disinformation and misinformation from the fake media.”

The Trump administration has recently sparked nationwide protests in the US over draconian raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Trump’s anti-immigrant “mass deportation program” is also impacting Canadians living and working in the US, as well as Canadian and international travellers who have been arbitrarily detained for weeks at US border crossings.

Despite this, Bauder is personally unconcerned about ICE. “I’m here lawfully,” Bauder said confidently. “I’m not worried about somebody showing up on my doorstep, I’m in a really safe position.”

“I’ve got a wall of guardian angels around me,” Bauder added. “We will get this brought forward to have Trump intervene, and then Trump will do what Trump does.”

Bauder’s confidence has been bolstered by US President Donald Trump’s return to power, pointing out Trump previously expressed support for the Freedom Convoy.

“(Trump) doesn’t like seeing the truckers get beat on. He did promise in his words that he would be with us to the very end.”

While he waits patiently in his RV for Trump and his guardian angels to answer his prayers, Bauder finds his lonely thoughts often turn to his wife, Sandra, and the simple life he left back home.

“I miss my wife,” Bauder said. “I miss being able to sit in my chair at home and watch my big screen.”

“I miss the open road and the freedom of driving long-haul trucks … I miss being able to drive all over the place and see sunsets and sunrises, and see all the different scenery and the beauty, and being able to have that life with my wife as my partner there beside me.”

Bauder’s criminal charges could carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

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