| An ICE official detains an unknown man |
Clearly because he was undocumented he had been turned in by someone who saw him as an enemy. He was immediately arrested and has since been detained in an immigration holding prison in New
Jersey.
His wife is several months pregnant and his family no doubt is deeply distressed by what has happened to him.
I am not going to identify him for obvious reasons, but suffice to say his arrest has been the big story in the community this week.
There are many questions around this case, but the most important one is very simple.
Why was this man picked up?
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He had dozens of people employed, was well-known as a very hard worker and a man who gave back to his community.
He was active in several Irish societies. There was even a photograph of him with Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny at one event.
I don’t personally know this man who was picked up, but several of his friends have attested to his hard work, basic decency and ability to create new businesses and jobs in New York City.
He is not unlike millions of Irish before him who came to America, worked hard and made a better life for themselves and everyone around them.
His only flaw was that he came at a time when No Irish Need Apply signs are back when it comes to getting working visas in America.
The Obama administration has made a big deal lately of its new policy of only tracking down criminal aliens and ignoring those who are just here to try to make a living.
The arrest of this Irishman would seem to give the lie to that particular policy.
I don’t know how much it will cost to incarcerate him, process his case and eventually, I guess, deport him, but it will surely run into the six figures.
I understand that immigration authorities in the U.S. have a job to do, and in the main they try and do it well I’m sure.
The Obama administration, like in many other areas, has talked a good game on immigration but delivered very little.
Either there is a coherent policy here that the target is those illegals who have broken the law and should be deported, or the opposite, that non-criminal aliens can also be sought out.
We can’t blame the agents for the arrest as they were clearly following orders, but the fact is that under Obama’s outline I understood that such people as this Irish businessman would no longer be deported, and that priority was to be given to those with criminal records.
So will he now be set free at some point, or is the administrative system going to swallow him up?
And what is the point of arresting him if there is no long-term plan to deport him?
I can only imagine the nightmare he and his family and his pregnant wife have gone through on this occasion.
The sad part is that it is so unnecessary, such a waste of valuable time and resources and a young businessman’s ability to create jobs, help the New York economy and play his role in the greatest country on Earth. All that has been so cruelly thwarted for all the wrong reasons.
The need to reform immigration law has never been greater.
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Read more:
More on US politics from IrishCentral
Why was an Irish businessman and father-to-be arrested in his NYC home?
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