WE’RE IN UNITED STATES OF PANIC
AN immigration crackdown sparked panic among undocumented Irish in the US, an expert warned yesterday.
Immigration, Detention and US Citizenship Counsellor Kieran O’sullivan said recent deportations had led to increased anxiety in the community.
Mr O’sullivan, from the Irish Pastoral Centre in Boston, added: “We’ve never seen such fear.”
He was speaking as Dylan O’riordan, the son of greencard holders, faced being deported to Ireland this week.
The 19-year-old moved with his parents from their home in Galway to Boston aged 12.
But he is just one of an increasing number of Irish people under threat after a crackdown by the Trump administration. Mr O’sullivan said: “The majority of Irish here work hard, pay taxes and they’re only looking to make a better life for themselves.
“And this notion out there that they’re a threat to the country is nonsense. “Figures indicate 34 Irish people were deported last year and that was up from the previous year.
“The Irish Pastoral Centre has been providing aid and support in this region for about 30 years.
“And we’ve never seen such fear among the undocumented Irish in the community that’s there at the present time.
“Over the past 12 months we’ve had a number of high profile detentions in the area. And one thing that’s disturbing to us of course is that once immigrants are taken into custody they often face a considerable period of time in jail while ICE, the Immigration, Customs Enforcement people, are processing the paperwork.”
Mr O’sullivan said an undocumented person could typically spend four to five weeks in jail before they are removed from the country.
He told RTE’S Morning Ireland: “We do what we can. Our chaplain Dan Finn goes in and visits with the prisoners, we have pro-bono attorneys who go in and assure them of their rights.
“It’s terribly upsetting for the families. We had one young man detained and deported after he was pulled over for a simple traffic violation.
“We have an estimated 5,000 in Massachussetts. The vast majority of these people came here to visit – they didn’t intend to violate any immigration laws.”
It is estimated there are around 50,000 Irish living illegally in the US. Speaking Dylan O’riordan with wife Brenna
BOSTON YESTERDAY
about the system in the United States and the need for immigration reform Mr O’sullivan said: “The problem is Congress has failed to enact any meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform. And so I see the problem lying in Washington, a failure of both sides to come together and put together and reform the laws.
“And the immigration system and the avenues towards achieving legal status are very difficult. “The H1-B visa for example has an annual cap. In terms of family sponsorship which is the other route in there are tremendous backlog in each of the family sponsorship categories.
“If I, for example, now a US citizen, want to sponsor my younger sister the backlog is 12 years.”
This notion that Irish here are a threat to the country is nonsense KIERAN O’SULLIVAN