Keith ‘has been given until tomorrow to quit US – or face jail’
THE family of Irishman Keith Byrne, who is being detained by immigration officials in the US, have said he has until tomorrow to leave the country – or he could face jail time.
The 37-year-old father-of-three has been in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement since last week, when he was arrested near his home in Philadelphia.
Mr Byrne, originally from Fermoy in Co. Cork, first travelled to the US under a Visa Waiver Programme in 2007, but overstayed his 90-day visitor period.
He married his wife Keren in 2009 and since 2010 he has been applying to get citizenship to stay in the US. However, his efforts to get citizenship have been complicated by two convictions related to marijuana possession when he was in his 20s, living in Ireland.
Mr Byrne has two children – Leona, six, and Gabriel, four – with Keren, as well as 13-year-old stepson Ezra. It is feared that relocating the entire family to Ireland would prove very difficult as Ezra would be separated from his natural father in the US.
According to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, which has been in contact with Mr Byrne’s family, he has been given until tomorrow to sign documentation which would give him a passport to leave the us, or face jail time.
This will also ban him from applying for visiting rights in the US for five years. Failing to sign the documents could result in him getting four years in jail, and it is understood he was also told it could take more than a year before this case reaches a federal judge. He is currently being held in a correctional facility in Pike County, Pennsylvania.
Speaking to Morning Ireland, Keith’s brother Greg Byrne said it is a ‘very difficult time for our family at the moment’.
He said: ‘A lot of people, especially in the south of Fermoy, have seen over the years how hard Keith has worked. He has become an entrepreneur; this is a man who had very little when he went to America and he really was living that American dream, but he worked very hard for it.
‘I know Keith has wronged, but I would plead with people’s sympathy. It all started with a holiday in America and he met his wife, he fell in love. Keith wasn’t going out there looking for a wife, he was going out there for a good time. He lives for his family.’
He also said Keith is very down after the deal was presented to him and now fears he might not see his children for over a year.
‘He believes he’s destroyed their lives, he’ll regret it for the rest of his life,’ said Greg Byrne.
ICE has said that it has detained Mr Byrne for failing to depart the US under the terms of admission for the Visa Waiver Programme.
This will make any appeal process difficult for Mr Byrne as, under the rules of the programme, if someone overstays their allotted time in the US they waive any appeals or recourse from the courts in regards to enforced deportation.
Keith’s sister Melinda told Morning Ireland: ‘We realise it is a process and we respect that... but we are making an appeal because of the circumstances that we have and the good people that we have involved.’
Mr Byrne was arrested as part of Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the US. A GoFundMe page has been set up to aid his defence, and it has reached almost $25,000 of its $50,000 goal.
‘Very difficult time for our family’ ‘We are making an appeal’