A 54-year-old Irishman who has lived legally in the United States for more than four decades has been owned by immigration and customs' application (ICE) on the basis of an alleged criminal conviction.
Cliona Ward, from Dublin, has lived in the United States since she was 12 years old and has a green card.
Ward was arrested by ice on March 19 after returning from a trip to Ireland to visit his father, who suffers from dementia.
“She was handcuffed, chained her and escorted her to the airport – like a hardened criminal. She was mortified, shameful and demoralized,” wrote her sister, Orla Holladay to collect funds for her legal defense.
After his initial detention, Ward – who currently lives in Santa Cruz in the state of California – would have been invited to provide documents to prove that her two decades conviction had been deleted.
Detained a second time
However, when Ward presented its documents to ICE officials at San Francisco Airport on April 21, it was held again.
“She followed all the instructions … for an alleged administrative meeting, which was actually an effort to take it into police custody,” wrote Holladay.
According to court documents seen by points of sale based in the United Kingdom, Ward has a criminal record which includes two crimes for the possession of drugs and four crimes.
Holladay said that even if her sister had a past criminal record and had been addicted, she has been clean for two decades.
“It is unimaginable that an incident that would have been completed 20 years could be used as justification to expel a legal permanent resident who is a productive member of our community,” said the member of the Democrat Congress Jimmy Panetta who represents Santa Cruz
“As a former prosecutor of the gangs, I understand and appreciate the need to withdraw the hardened criminals from our communities, but the detention of Cliona Ward – now in the fifties and a holder of green cards – during old decades crimes that would have been deleted from his personal record is incredible and unacceptable,” he added.
Green cards and citizenship rights “should not be a problem”
The Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Department told Euronews that it was “aware of the case and to provide consular assistance”.
“As with all consular cases, the ministry does not comment on the details of individual cases,” he added.
Meanwhile, Irish Taioseach Micheál Martin told the national broadcaster Rté: “When people have green cards and citizenship rights, there should not be a problem, we will therefore continue on a bilateral basis to ensure that those who legitimately have the right to be in the United States are free from challenges or difficulties of this type.”
Since US President Donald Trump was sworn in in January, his administration promoted a hard immigration policy.
ADVERTISEMENTReports of Europeans held by ice for unknown reasons have emerged in recent months.
