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Trumped up charges

Up to 50,000 undocumented Irish facing deportation from the US as Donald Trump vows to boot out illegal immigrants

The new president has promised to deport immigrants with criminal records within next 100 days amidst suggestions that all unofficial residents will be sent packing over time

AROUND 50,000 undocumented Irish could face ­deportation from the US — as new president Donald Trump follows through on his election promise to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The new leader of America has vowed to deport illegal immigrants with criminal records within his first 100 days in office and a series of executive actions suggest he will widen the net to all unofficial US residents over the coming months.

 Trump shows off his signature
Trump shows off his signature

Trump’s plans have caused huge uncertainty for the thousands of ­undocumented Irish people living in the US, many of whom have lived there for decades and now fear they could be thrown out of the country they call home.

As well as following through on his pledge to build a wall along the Mexican border, Trump has also signed an executive order which would ‘punish’ sanctuary cities by denying them hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants.

Sanctuary cities — which include New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver — are those which offer some sort of protection to undocumented ­residents.

This means that those living there face less risk of being deported.

In Boston, which is home to approximately 10,000 undocumented Irish, local law enforcement are not allowed to detain individuals based on immigration status except in cases where there is a criminal warrant.

 There is a major Irish presence in cities such as Boston and Chicago
PA:Press Association

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, an Irish-American, said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed” by Trump’s actions, which would withdraw funding from the city.

He said: “I will use all of my power within lawful means to protect all Boston residents — even if that means using City Hall itself as a last resort.”

Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, another sanctuary city, also spoke out against Trump’s orders, vowing to welcome people no matter where they’re from.

He said: “There is no stranger among us. We welcome people, whether you’re from Poland or ­Pakistan, whether you’re from Ireland or India or Israel and whether you’re from Mexico or Moldova, where my grandfather came from, you are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American Dream.”

Ireland’s emigration links to America go back centuries, with dips and swells over the years.

US immigration laws have changed over the years — sometimes welcoming workers from overseas and sometimes restricting them.

Trump’s election campaign was led on an anti-immigration footing, as figures from 2015 show that the foreign-born portion of the population is at near historic highs of 13.5 per cent.

This compares to just 4.7 per cent in 1970.

The Pew Research Center’s D’Vera Cohn says US immigration policies date back to not long after the country won independence from Britain.

A 1790 law limited citizenship to “free white persons” of “good moral character” who had lived in the US for at least two years.

A series of laws in 1798 tacked on some strict enforcement provisions, including a requirement that non-citizens live in the US for 14 years before naturalisation.


For many of those years, it brought in slaves too, treating them as property, not citizens.

In 1870, people of African origin gained citizenship rights.

The years from 1820-1870 saw an influx of newcomers from Northern and Western Europe, mostly German and Irish, many of whom found work building America’s roads and cities.

About a third of all immigrants during that period came from famine-wracked Ireland. The goldrush and jobs on the railroad also attracted Chinese immigrants.

However, from 1875 the US began imposing restrictions on the types of immigrants it would allow. Among those banned were “criminals, people with contagious diseases, polygamists, anarchists, beggars and importers of prostitutes”. A series of laws also put growing restrictions on immigrants from China, and even provided for the deportation of Chinese nationals already in the US.

Later laws barred immigration from most Asian countries.

Mexico's chief: We won't pay for wall

TRUMP’S vow to go ahead with a “physical wall” along the US/Mexico border has led to ­questions on who will pay for it and how.
It looks like US taxpayers will foot part of the bill, starting with money already in the Department of Homeland ­Security account that amounts to a small downpayment.
Then it’s up to the ­Republican-led Congress to come up with $12-$15billion (€11-14bn) more, according to an estimate offered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at a meeting in Philadelphia ­yesterday.
Republican leaders refused to commit to paying for the wall with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
That could mean costs would be paid for by adding to the government’s debt.
On Wednesday, Trump promised “immediate construction” would begin on the border wall, telling ABC News that planning is starting immediately.
He again vowed that Mexico would pay the US back, though he offered no details.
In a nationally televised address in his country on Wednesday Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto said: “I regret and reject the decision of the US to build the wall. I have said time and again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.”

Historian Alan Kraut says the push-pull between the need for more labourers and the tensions that immigration stirred led to a common expression: “America beckons, but Americans repel.”

Between 1881 and 1920, more than 23 million people came to the US, mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe. The Great Depression resulted in more restrictive laws, sending US immigration into a long decline. In the 1980s, with Ireland in deep recession, many young educated Irish people emigrated to the US.

Many outstayed their visas and do not return home as they would not be able to re-enter the States.

Caro Kinsella, a US-based immigration lawyer, said many Irish are worried about what the future holds. Ms Kinsella told Morning Ireland: “We’re getting many calls from people who are there legally and there without immigration status.

“People don’t know how their America is going to change for them. We’re talking about people who are there many years.

“I would advise them not to speak. If you’re taken by immigration officials, you need to have a game plan. Know your attorney’s number, know your family’s number.

You need to tell them that you’re exercising your right not to speak and your right to speak to an attorney. Whatever you do, don’t sign anything because you could be signing your removal order.

“Especially if they come to your house. They do these deportations at night, once you open that door they can come in and take you.”