HOMELAND INSECURITY
US election casts a cloud over undocumented Irish and their GAA communities
WHEN you see some of the comments from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, it would send a shiver down your spine.’ Páraic Duffy isn’t a man for wild and whirling words, so when the GAA’s director general speaks in such dramatic terms, it shows the level of concern facing the undocumented Irish in America.
It says something when the race for the White House has sent ripples through the Irish-American community that stretched all the way to the Mount Wolseley Hotel in Carlow where GAA Congress took place last month.
Duffy’s response came after an address to the floor by Paddy McDevitt, treasurer of the North America County Board, who wanted to highlight the very serious issues on the ground.
The right-wing rhetoric of Republican party nominee hopefuls Donald Trump and Ted Cruz has a community reeling in a week when the St Patrick’s Day love-in between visiting Irish politicians and the Barack Obama administration didn’t tell anything like the full story.
‘There are 50,000 undocumented in America,’ explains McDevitt. ‘Maybe more. I estimate that 710,000 of them are directly or indirectly involved in the GAA.
‘They’re living and working here, have married and have kids here that have American passports. They’re homeowners, business owners. They’re here until something gets sorted. But you have lads here, living here undocumented for up to 10 and 15 years. Never set foot on Irish soil in that time.
‘It’s a major worry for them and their families back home what is being said at the moment.’
Ted Cruz’s famous line about chasing down ‘Tommy O’Malley from Co Cork’ and running him out of the country captures the sense of foreboding, the Texas senator declaring he would send federal agents to track down undocumented immigrants in their homes.
‘It’s a very worrying time,’ adds Donegal native McDevitt. ‘When Obama was running, there was a glimmer of hope there. He always said that there was a path of legalisation there for the undocumented. But when he got in, he didn’t act in time. He left it too late. He had too many other things to sort. Then he lost a lot of his power in the house. So he let it go.’
Dig beneath Trump’s headline talk of building a wall between America and Mexico and McDevitt explains that the talk of cracking down on undocumented is really aimed at south of the border rather than at those with roots across the Atlantic. ‘Trump has a dislike for the Mexicans. The reason why is because a lot of them cross the border and there’s a lot of criminal activity that goes on. That’s a big problem for the US. A small portion of the Irish then are tarred with the same brush.
‘Trump hasn’t told us his exact plans for the undocumented. He’s planning on stopping any more coming in and saying the people that are here – either the criminals he’s going to get rid of or have a path for having the rest of them to become legal.’
MI CH A EL DUFFY, another Donegal man who is a long-term resident in the US is part of the Boston Irish group that have been lobbying for the undocumented Irish for a number of years.
‘If they decide to stay over the three months and less than one year, they are subject to deportation, which is anything from six to 12 weeks in prison. And that’s GP – general population. It’s gangs, people banged up for all different things. They’re not put into a room on their own and taken care of,’ he says.
‘The stress that puts on people is insane. We’ve had a number of people caught like that, personal friends of mine.
‘An awful lot are afraid to travel. Afraid to go to the airports. It’s definitely in their mind about being pulled over. So you’re losing out. We’re losing our heritage.’
And this at a time when the GAA abroad is the association’s biggest modern-day success story, a time when clubs are shooting up all over the globe, and America is part of the trend as much as anywhere.
John Cunningham has met plenty of politicians on this issue over the last 16 years he has been based in America. He’s one of those undocumented, prepared to stand up and fight for change.
Again, he tells of the very real effect on Irish lives and on the GAA in Boston. ‘One particular player, no more than three months ago, his father passed away. He wasn’t able to go home for it.
‘That’s the day-to-day stuff – not being able to go home and bury a parent.
‘That’s the sad thing about it. The whole thing is flooded with green for St Patrick’s Day. In Chicago, they die the river. It’s so false. Incredible b***shit.’
He admits that a bi-lateral agreement distinguishing the undocumented Irish from, for instance, Mexicans – which has the likes of Trump so inflamed – is unlikely to happen.
‘I’ve met every politician from Ireland who has come over here. They’ll tell you they can’t do a bipartisan agreement for just Ireland alone. But that’s as far as they go.’
McDevitt says the number of undocumented is rising. ‘When we say 50,000, that figure has been out there for years. That could be 60,000, it could be 70,000. They’re coming from Australia now with the downturn there.
‘We had a fella from Boston who drove down to Austin for the hurling All Stars in December. Took him 32 hours. He’s undocumented and doesn’t have a license and can’t go on an airplane.
‘The GAA is thriving in America. That’s down to American-born kids playing the game. I think there are now 123 clubs all across America. Six new clubs coming in this year.
‘But unfortunately, this little black cloud is over us with the undocumented.’
‘WITH OBAMA THERE WAS SOMES HOPE BUT HE LEFT IT ALL TOO LATE ’