An Irish woman who has been living legally in the United States for more than 30 years was detained by the US immigration enforcement agency this month after returning from a visit to Ireland to see her ill father.
Green-card holder Cliona Ward, 54, first ran into trouble last month after arriving back in the US from a trip to Cork to visit her father, who is living with dementia.
Ms Ward — who lives in Santa Cruz, California — was detained and questioned by customs at San Francisco airport over her past criminal record, which dated from 2003 to 2008 and included some charges pertaining to the possession of drugs.
She and her sister Orla Holladay, who also lives in the US, claimed her convictions were expunged, prompting customs to temporarily release her to obtain the appropriate documentation to prove that her records had been cleared in California.
Last Monday, when she went to present officials with proof of her expungement, she was detained once more and told to argue her case in front of an immigration judge.
Ms Ward’s sister, Ms Holladay, has now set up a GoFundMe to cover legal costs.
Speaking to NBC Bay Area News, Ms Holladay said her sister has a son who is an “American citizen, who she is currently a caretaker for because he’s chronically ill”.
I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. She’s not a criminal. She has a criminal past, which she has atoned for.
She added that her sister struggled with addiction.
In a recent update to Ward’s GoFundMe page, Ms Holladay wrote that her sister was being held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Tacoma, Washington.
She said: “I just got to talk to Cliona. She said that she has been really depressed but knowing people are keeping eyes on her lifted her again.
“She shared that although she can’t speak with the majority of the women in there because most don’t speak English they have been giving each other support and there are lots of tears and hugs between the women.”
Ms Ward is due to appear in court for a hearing on May 7.
Ms Holladay said that when Ms Ward got off the plane in Tacoma, “officers handcuffed, shackled her and escorted her [through] the airport — like a hardened criminal. She was mortified, shamed and demoralised.
“On a positive note, we were able to get two visitors into her today thanks to our neighbour Valarie and her boss Tess.”
California Congress Democrat Representative Jimmy Panetta, in a statement, said: “It’s unimaginable that a reportedly expunged, 20-year-old incident could be used as justification for deporting a legal permanent resident who is a productive member of our community.
But this is the cruel and unreasonable state of this administration’s deportation policy.
“As a former gang prosecutor, I understand and appreciate the need to remove hardened criminals from our communities, but the detention of Cliona Ward — now in her 50s and a Green Card holder — for decades-old crimes that have reportedly been expunged from her personal record is unfathomable and unacceptable.”
Mr Panetta said he is continuing to press US Customs and Border Protection for the release of Ms Ward and that he is working closely with her advocates to “co-ordinate efforts, ensure transparency, and uphold the law and due process that must be afforded to everyone in the United States”.
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