Cliona Ward (54), originally from Dublin but living in Santa Cruz, California, was detained by federal authorities and brought to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility earlier this week despite holding a valid permanent green card and living legally in the US.
The detention comes following a major crackdown on immigrants by ICE since Donald Trump’s second presidency and a US politician has described her detention as “cruel and unreasonable” and “appalling.”
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – April 27
Her family say Ward, who emigrated to the US when she was 12, was detained over minor offences from almost 20 years ago which they say have been expunged from her record.
She had six convictions including two felonies for possession of drugs and four misdemeanours for minor offences including “failure to notify DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles] of address change within 10 days”.
However, her sister Orla Holladay, who is also originally from Dublin but living in the US, says those offences have been expunged from her record but because the cases had been expunged in the state of California and not by federal authorities she has been told she must be seen by a federal judge and her first court hearing will not take place until May 7.
In the meantime she is being held in a detention centre.
“She’s terrified, she’s distraught, she’s scared, she’s worried about her son,” Holladay told the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
“She’s just trying to hold it together.
““She’s afraid that she’s going to get lost in the system. That was the one thing she said to me: ‘Please don’t let me get lost.’”
She said her sister was a carer for her chronically ill son.
Ward was first stopped by customs officials in Seattle when she returned to the US after visiting her dying father in Ireland with her step-mother in March.
The officials brought up her six minor offences which stretch from 2003 to 2008 and detained her for two days. They released her after she told them her convictions been expunged and told her to get documentation and attend a meeting with customs officials in San Francisco last Monday.
However, when she turned up with the documents she was detained again and charged with moral turpitude.
Her sister said Ward, who has been sober for over 20 years, currently works at a non-profit Christian organisation teaching soil management and conservation to children.
“This has to do with a painful addiction and she did everything she could do to change that,” said Holladay. “She’s a viable, valuable part of this community.”
She described her as a gentle, loving and private person.
Ward is a carer for her chronically ill adult son Malaki, who is now being cared for by Holladay and his grandparents, who are aged in their 80s. His birthday was on Wednesday two days after Ward’s detention.
Ward is a legal permanent resident in the US but also retains Irish citizenship.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said they were aware of the case and providing consular assistance.
“As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of individual cases.”
California US Representative Jimmy Panetta, a Democrat, said he was pressing customs officials for Ward’s release.
“It is unimaginable that 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.”
California State Assembly representative Gail Pellerin told the Santa Cruz Mercury that the case was “a clear example … of the falsehood we’re hearing from the (federal) administration that they’re only going after, you know, hardened criminals who are here undocumented.
“Here they’re clearly going after somebody who has been in this country, who has a green card, who 20 years ago had some offenses that were minor and she thought they were expunged from the record. But the fact that she is a person being held under this circumstance is just absolutely appalling.”
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