A New York-based immigration lawyer has highlighted how numerous undocumented Irish nationals are quietly being detained and deported under a renewed immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, reports The Mirror.
“Every single bit of this is tragic and cruel,” said Brian O’Dwyer, a New York lawyer, referring to Irish individuals being apprehended and deported.
Since late February, O’Dwyer — founder and chairman emeritus of the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre, which operates in Queens and the Bronx — has been receiving reports of long-time members of the Irish community being put on flights back to Ireland, reports The Mirror.
Many of those affected were taken into custody during routine check-ins with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), where they had been reporting under deferred action arrangements in an effort to normalise their status.
O’Dwyer, a veteran advocate for immigrant rights, said: “The ICE people are slipping the cuffs on them and sending them off to detention in preparation for deportation. There are people that have been here for years, people that are very successful businessmen, that employ a number of people, that have wives and kids. Their kids are born here. Of course, none of that matters, they are on a plane home. Talking for myself, these are people who’ve been my friends, that I’ve dealt with for 30 years, 20 years, and I’ve known and respected. Some I knew were undocumented, some I didn’t,” reports The Mirror.
He added that fear has gripped the Irish immigrant community: “It’s very much ‘heads down’. The people aren’t coming out like they used to the dances and Gaelic sports – all the things where immigrants would feel safe, no longer feel safe,” reports The Mirror.
O’Dwyer believes those on deferred action have become easy targets for deportation under the Trump administration.
He explained: “Deferred Action was where they found that they had violated the immigration laws by overstaying their visas, but they had given through humanitarian reasons, or other reasons, what was called deferred action, which meant that they were told that ICE would take no action against them. As part of that, they had to report – basically like a parole – to the ICE office every six months, and even during the first Trump administration, no action was taken against them,” reports The Mirror.
He now believes they are being targeted due to the ease of access for ICE agents: “These are people that, in good faith, show up at the office to comply with their obligations and boom, they literally put the cuffs on them and then put them into detention. And then make them wait in detention [for]weeks until they get deported, of course, which is just awful. So, yes, it is happening, despite what the Trump people will tell you, it’s not happening just to criminals, it’s happening to hard-working people, and it’s not happening just to Latinos, it’s happening to the Irish, Italians,” reports The Mirror.
O’Dwyer estimates that at least a hundred cases have occurred across the country, though he believes the real number is likely much higher as many are afraid to speak out.
“We’re doing what we can, the people at Emerald Isle are working way over time. I would say it’s certainly more than 100,” he said, reports The Mirror.
He praised the support from Irish consulates in New York and Boston: “The Irish government has been extraordinarily good in this, they have gone out of their way to be helpful to the immigration centres and the immigrants as much as they can.”
Among the most distressing stories, O’Dwyer recounted one businessman who was deported while his wife and teenage children remained in the US.
“They’ve been here for many years. They have made their life here, it’s tragic for [them] and tragic for the community,” he said, reports The Mirror.
In some cases, families only receive brief phone calls to inform them their loved ones are in custody; in others, they don’t learn what happened for up to 48 hours.
There have also been instances where both parents are detained, prompting emergency efforts to ensure legal protections for children.
O’Dwyer said: “The things we’re working on with people now are power of attorney and guardianship, things of that sort,” reports The Mirror.
He expressed concern about the impact on children: “Parents, quite rightly, don’t want to magnify that trauma by bringing them out of school.”
In many cases, extended family members like aunts and uncles have taken over caregiving responsibilities.
“Luckily, in New York, everybody has somebody. So at least kids can finish out the school year, and then people can figure out what they want to do,” he said. “They deport the parents without any consideration of the fact that they’re breaking up the family. So, I mean, obviously, the parents can take them back to wherever they can take them back to Ireland,” reports The Mirror.
Chicago-based Irish immigration lawyer Fiona McEntee said communities are now taking steps to understand their rights.
“Heartbreakingly, people are preparing documents in case they do end up in deportation and they’re away from their children,” she said, reports The Mirror.
McEntee warned that undocumented Irish people should not assume they are immune from Trump’s crackdown.
“It doesn’t necessarily matter if you’re being targeted or not,” she said. “They’re raiding nightclubs and all these different types of places where you could easily be so it just creates a lot of fear and uncertainty in the community across the board,” reports The Mirror.
In Omaha, Nebraska, attorney and county commissioner James P. Cavanaugh said fear is spreading among those seeking legal status.
“These are very, very serious violations of people’s privacy, you know, constitutional protections against search and seizure and due process,” he said, reports The Mirror.
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