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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Why was an Irish businessman and father-to-be arrested in his NYC home?

Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 07:21 AM

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An ICE official detains an unknown man

Recently an Irish businessman arrived home from his busy workday in Manhattan to find immigration agents outside his house.

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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Why was an Irish businessman and father-to-be arrested in his NYC home?

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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.
---------------
Read more:
More on US politics from IrishCentral

Why was an Irish businessman and father-to-be arrested in his NYC home?

Was quarterback Tom Brady ‘talking Gaelic’ during heated argument?- VIDEO
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46 comments

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peterson | Dec 15, 2011, 01:41 PM EST

This was a real travesty -- Yet Obama ignores the estimated 12 million plus illegals to remain in the U.S. so they can vote for him (again).

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GeorgeDillon | Dec 15, 2011, 12:57 PM EST

Brnmar1: "He had lived in the USA for 35 years (since he was 18)". This seems extraordinary. There were several illegal alien amnesties during those 35 years. How come he didn't avail of one of them?

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GeorgeDillon | Dec 15, 2011, 12:55 PM EST

joycean "don't see how someone runs a legitimate business who is here illegal". Food for thought indeed. I know nothing about the guy, so I wouldn't comment. But it is ironic that his employees probably had to do the Verification process, while he didn't. If he's such a great entrepreneur, why doesn't he go back to Ireland where such people are needed. He can employ illegal aliens there if he likes, in Ireland no one cares.

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GeorgeDillon | Dec 15, 2011, 12:51 PM EST

Rebelforce: 40 million??? It's one of the great fallacies that's thrown around. All the census lists is the ethnic heritages ticked by respondents. People can tick several. In my case I tick Irish and Italian. Other people might put Irish English Italian French Spanish etc. It is really time the Irish learn how unreliable is that 40M figure.

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Deidra47 | Dec 15, 2011, 12:49 PM EST

So we are going to give this guy a hard time being here when he was productive and gave to society yet they can't quite get all these Latinos running around from multiple Spanish countries. I just don't get it.

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canadianirish | Dec 15, 2011, 12:38 PM EST

"the greatest country on Earth" - really?? I think not. By the way, Canada had the welcome sign out for all Irish immigrants. Would love to see you emigrate to our fair nation.

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kilgara | Dec 15, 2011, 12:27 PM EST

Here in Yonkers there are thousands of illegal Mexican and South Americans . Everybody knows they're illegal yet they act like they own Yonkers[and many other towns in Westchester too}. One reason for this is that they know without a doubt that NO ONE will ever question them about their status. Yet hard-working , honest Irish people are regularly arrested and deported for their status. The founding fathers and our ancestors are surely spinning in their graves.

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joycean | Dec 15, 2011, 11:39 AM EST

Rebelforce, I think that when it suits them, the Irish government likes to throw that 40 mil around, like those Certificates of Irishness.Of course, nobody really believes there are 40Mil Americans seriusly committed to Ireland. And Ireland and the US don't have a "special relationship" like we have with Britain.The Irish people would never agree to such a thing.

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OleSarge | Dec 15, 2011, 11:15 AM EST

If he is illegally here, he is an illegal. That makes him a criminal. Criminals get arrested. Why was he picked out or others. It shows the Obama crowd being fair.

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joycean | Dec 15, 2011, 11:11 AM EST

quillpen, I don't think thr Republicans think "immigrants are people of color from islands below the equator." Most of them are from Mexico. Also, American cuisine is the most varied in the world. BTW, this is already a very varied culture. The city that I live in is about 40% white, 40% African-American; 20% everthing else, from all over the world.

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Rebelforce | Dec 15, 2011, 11:08 AM EST

If the Irish government had any brains they would have helped to organize and mobilize many of the 40 million Americans who claim Irish heritage into a political voting bloc that would advocate for a "special relationship" between the US and Ireland. Other countries around the world can only dream of having such a large population of people in the US identifying with it as the Irish do. How did the Irish go from being a group that was once offered unlimited immigration into the US to now being a group that is virtually excluded from US shores?

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madpadd | Dec 15, 2011, 11:08 AM EST

I agree with Quillpenz. American cuisine is changing thanks to immigration. Why we even have Scottish restaurants here now......MacDonalds.

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joycean | Dec 15, 2011, 11:07 AM EST

I did not post the 9:57 post attributed to me.

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quillpenz | Dec 15, 2011, 10:45 AM EST

The Republicans want a hard line on immigration because they think that the immigrants are all people of color from islands below the equator. Immigrants in fact enrich the United States. American cuisine is changing as a result of the many people of all cultures coming here. To deport this Manhatten man will result in loss of jobs for his employees.

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hooligan6a | Dec 15, 2011, 10:39 AM EST

Why was he arrested? Probably because he was taking a job that could be filled by an illegal Mexican.

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