AN Irish priest in South Dakota has been told he must leave the country by July 1 because he is undocumented. He has served a diocese in Sioux Falls community for 10 years.Father Cathal Gallagher, 58 and from Gweedore, Co. Donegal, was recently shocked by the news that he has been out of status for some time. "All this time I thought I was fine," Gallagher told the Irish Voice from his parish home in De Smet, Kingsbury County on Friday. Gallagher, who trained as a Columban priest in Dalgan Park Seminary in Co. Meath, is the only pastor within a 60-mile radius in Sioux Falls. Bright and early every morning the Irish priest clocks up many miles on an old Mustang as he conducts his religious duties, which include daily Masses, religious ceremonies, attending to the sick and, ironically, providing financial and emotional support to Latino immigrants in the parishes of De Smet, Arlington and Iroquois, each 20 miles apart."There is a shortage of priests here you know," said Gallagher, explaining that he thoroughly enjoys going from parish to parish. "I know every family and home. I've visited with them all. They really are a wonderful farming community."Gallagher came to the U.S. on a religious visa in 1996 to partake in an alcohol treatment program in Rochester, Minnesota "I had a two way ticket for Tokyo," said Gallagher who was based in Japan for 22 years. "And I had every intention of using it."During this time, Gallagher became friendly with then Bishop of Sioux Falls, Robert J. Carlson who was undergoing cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. After spending some time in Sioux Falls with Carlson, Gallagher quickly realized that he wanted to lay down roots."The longer I stayed here I began to realize it's not what I can give or what I can do, it's much more of a selfish purpose," he said in his very obvious Donegal accent. "There is just something wonderful in the air here." At the request of Carlson, whose mother hailed from Donegal, Gallagher accepted a parish priest's position and would spend the next decade in De Smet. (The town is named after a Jesuit priest who came from Belgium to establish peace between the Indians and the white man)."It's like Kerry or Donegal in the 1800s," describes Gallagher. "It's all farming life and people depend on each other and look out for each other."In the late 1990s Gallagher renewed his religious visa for a second time, and Carlson began proceedings to help Gallagher obtain permanent residency here.Everything was wonderful, Gallagher explains. He had set down roots in Sioux Falls and felt a sense of belonging. Years weren't long passing by and, as far as he knew, his green card application was being taken care of. More good news came his way in January 2003 when he received word that his petition had been approved."I was told to go and get my fingerprints and immunizations done and I did," remembers Gallagher. "Everything to my knowledge was fine. I was told to expect my green card in two weeks." Unfortunately, his green card never came. A number of things started to go wrong. "The office that was handling my case in Nebraska, their visa section was taken off them. The bishop we had here changed to Michigan so we had no bishop for a year," he says."The lawyer handling the case retired and we didn't know about it so at the end of the day we don't know who dropped the ball, but it got dropped," he said disappointedly. It wasn't until January of last year that Gallagher received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security informing him that his request for permanent residency was denied. A "technical error," they said, prevented him from obtaining a green card. "After all these years," Gallagher said sadly. But not to worry, there was light at the end of the tunnel, or so he was told. His lawyer at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc (CLINIC) informed him that the denial notice was a "slip up" and it could be rectified easily. "Phew," thought Gallagher. "All would be sorted out in a matter of time."Another year of hope passed by, and when Gallagher checked up on his case again this past April he found out that nothing had changed. Very confused and perplexed, Gallagher and the newly appointed Bishop of Sioux Falls, Paul J. Swain, had a meeting with the diocese's lawyer. The meeting didn't have the outcome that Gallagher desired.The lawyer, upon realizing that Gallagher has been out of status for some time, informed Swain that he was harboring an illegal alien. This, the lawyer said, was the same scale of crime as being an illegal alien. Hearing this news, according to Gallagher, made the bishop nervous, and despite their friendship, Swain, informed Gallagher that he could no longer employ him and told him he would be required to leave the country by July 1.The news of Gallagher's imminent departure spread throughout his three parishes in Sioux Falls like wildfire. Locals, parishioners and friends of the Donegal priest have come together to do everything in their power to hold on to their man of God. They have set up a website, HelpFather.com, held meetings in their community to figure out a way to keep Gallagher with them, and most recently they have organized a meeting with South Dakota U.S. Senators John Thune and Tim Johnson and Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.Gallagher is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support he has received from his community. "People have really rallied together to help me. They are all such wonderful people and I'm so grateful," said Gallagher. Although Gallagher is working against the clock, he is hopeful and remains optimistic that the politicians will find a solution to his undocumented status.He explains that the denial notice he received clearly stated that an appeal was not possible, but it does say in smaller print that the director of each immigration office "has the right to reopen and revisit any case irrespective of time elapsed." "Even if the case re-opens it would mean I would be in status again," he said, also hoping that Bishop Swain would then allow him to stay put for a while longer. Friends and parishioners of Gallagher are astounded and upset that one of God's shepherds could be sent away so easily. Saddened by Gallagher's possible departure, Jay Slater recently wrote on a blog that Gallagher saved his wife's life while he was deployed to Iraq. "He led me to a stronger, better faith with God. I have watched him show people, and communities, a better way to live and build. He is more of an American than many I know with the birthright. My forefathers would have been embarrassed," he wrote.Parishioner of De Smet Shelly Osthus also wrote, "I cannot think of a single person that has taught the children and the community more about citizenship and being contributing members of a community more than Father. It shames me that we can ask him to leave, when we allow many to live and work here, contributing very little to their community."Grateful and energized by the backing he has received from his local parishioners, Gallagher said he has never seen anything like this before. "The people are not just dissatisfied with this country. They're shocked that a person can just be kicked out who had tried to give back," he said.Gallagher is already looking to the positive side of his immigration debacle. He said he is pleased that he has become "a poster boy" for immigration. "Immigrants in this part of the country are regarded as Hispanics who steal all the jobs, so I'm glad that my face is out there. They know I'm their priest and I'm not stealing from anybody." Gallagher admits he has not given any thought to where he will go if he is required to leave South Dakota in a few weeks. "I really don't know. Japan thinks I'd go back there but Ireland calls too but then again it's not the Ireland I knew years ago." Gallagher said what is meant to be will be. "I've seen so much tragedy in this life that it's not the end of the world if I have to move."