THE Department of Homeland Security has deported Mark James McAllister, 28, the son of former Irish Republican prisoner Malachy McAllister to Ireland, the Irish Voice has learned. Known as Jamie to his friends and family, McAllister junior has lived in the U.S. and Canada for 20 years, since his father fled Belfast in 1988 after the Red Hand Commando paramilitaries came within inches of killing his family.Like his father, Jamie had been reporting in monthly to the Department of Homeland Security in New Jersey since December 2003, under an order of supervision, which was subject to the same immigration conditions as his father. Unlike his father however, Jamie was denied political asylum because of a prior offense when he was a teenager. The Irish Voice has learned it was a controlled substance offence, which is considered an aggravated felony, dating from when Jamie was 19. However, he was never incarcerated and had been checking in on a monthly basis with the Department of Homeland Security.On Friday, February 1 McAllister junior was told that a computer glitch would necessitate his return to the Department of Homeland Security last Thursday, February 7 to complete his order of supervision for the month. However, when he returned he was arrested by Homeland Security agents, then removed to detention and deported to Ireland the following day.Eamonn Dornan, the attorney who has been a long time representative for the family, told the Irish Voice, "I would say that Jamie is looking at a 10 year bar before he gets back into the United States. His father is very disturbed by all this, needless to say, as is Jamie's American wife, Noelle.""Jamie has a job, community, friends here - he went to school here. He's now being literally dumped in a country that he has no familiarity with."It is understood that McAllister junior is now living in Belfast with his aunt and uncle, where he is reconciling himself to the fact that he cannot return to his life in the U.S.Added Dornan, "There's no question that the Department of Homeland Security had jurisdiction to deport him. That's not in question. What is in question is the harsh provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which just doesn't allow for humanitarian circumstances to come into play. "Jamie's been here for 20 years, he's married, he's working, his family and community is here but none of that is enough to trump the offense under which he was deportable."Malachy McAllister is upset at the decision. "It's a real blow. I can't say it was unexpected; he was always at their mercy," he told the Irish Voice."But it wasn't a question that he was one of these kids that was in trouble every day. For the past four years he has showed up on a monthly basis to the Department of Homeland Security. We couldn't include him in the political asylum bill because of his conviction; he was the only vulnerable one among us. "That's his whole future sent out the window. Who are they supposed to be going after? Is it terrorists or just destroying families?"