Irish woman living in US for decades detained by immigration officials | US news | The Guardian
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Cliona Ward, who had returned from trip to Ireland, held over criminal record from almost 20 years ago
An Irish woman who has lived legally in the US for four decades has been detained by immigration officials for the last week because of a criminal record dating back almost 20 years.
Cliona Ward, 54, was detained at San Francisco airport on 21 April after returning from Ireland to visit her sick father and is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Tacoma, Washington.
Ward holds a green card but has convictions for drug possession from 2007 and 2008, which she believed had been expunged, her family said.
The latest evidence of a crackdown on documented migrants under President Donald Trump prompted an expression of concern from the Irish taoiseach, Micheal Martin. "Where people have green cards and citizenship rights there shouldn't be an issue so we will be pursuing this on a bilateral basis to make sure that those who are legitimately entitled to be in the US are free from any challenges or difficulties of this kind," he told RTE on Monday. Ireland's department of foreign affairs said it was providing consular assistance.
Originally from Dublin, Ward moved to the US when she was a child, attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, works for a non-profit, pays taxes and cares for a chronically ill son who is a US citizen, according to her sister Orla Holladay.
Ward's criminal record includes two felonies for drug possession and four misdemeanours, according to court documents reviewed by Newsweek. The cases stem from a period when she was an addict but she has been sober for two decades, Holladay told the magazine. "She has a criminal past, but she's not a criminal. She's a person with a painful past."
In a crowdfunding appeal to raise funds for a lawyer - by Monday afternoon pledges exceeded $23,000 (£17,200) - Holladay said her sister had paid for her offences and become a valued member of the community. "She did everything she was supposed to do in order to make reparations," she wrote. "Cliona is a very private and gentle person, who wants nothing more than to return to her quiet life."
In the belief that her convictions were expunged - the Guardian could not verify this was the case - Ward had frequently visited Ireland and returned to the US each time without problems, said Holladay.
Earlier this year she accompanied her stepmother to Ireland to visit her father, who has dementia, and after returning to the US was stopped at Seattle airport on 19 March and held for three days.
She was released to obtain documentation about the allegedly expunged convictions and presented them to Ice officials at San Francisco airport on 21 April, after which she was again detained and sent to the facility at Tacoma, said Holladay.
Ward was shackled en route, leaving her feeling shamed and demoralised, and found conditions at the facility to be harsh, her sister said. "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."
Erin Hall, a Seattle-based lawyer, is due to have an initial consultation with Ward on Monday. Ward's immigration hearing is scheduled for 7 May.
The US Representative Jimmy Panetta, a Democrat from California, said it was "unfathomable" that a reportedly expunged, decades-old crime could be used to deport a legal permanent resident who was a productive member of the community.
Trump won the 2024 election on the promise of "the largest deportation operation in American history" but few anticipated a crackdown on documented immigrants, including green card holders and citizens who have the status by birth or naturalisation. On 27 April a federal judge accused the administration of removing a two-year-old US citizen "with no meaningful process".
Recent high-profile cases include a Canadian, Jasmine Mooney, who was detained for two weeks, sometimes in freezing cells, because of an issue with her work visa.
Jessica Brosche, a German tourist, spent more than six weeks in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement, reportedly because US authorities suspected she planned to work as a tattoo artist without a work visa.
A visa mix-up led to Rebecca Burke, a British graphic artist, being interrogated and detained for three weeks, an ordeal that prompted her to caution other tourists to avoid travelling to the US.
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She doesn't look like MS-13? Nor is she illegal? How are the right wing populists going to excuse ICE and the Trump Admin now?
They'll figure it out
If only. They will ignore this just as they willfully, willingly, disregard every affront to their rights. It is beyond absurd…it is obscene.
Explain the relevance of her criminal record. Did she lie to obtain her green card?
This "reporting" is so vague as to be useless. Were her felonies expunged or not?
I knew I could count on you to excuse the authoritarian use of power. It's all well spelled out in the article -
She's been in and out of the country several times without issue - she's paid her debt for her crimes and still Trump's ICE have her illegally detained.
I could count on you to excuse the authoritarian use of power.
I see. Today's an even day, so following the law is an "authoritarian use of power." Tomorrow, it's "the law applies applies to everyone equally."
You haven't figured out how this works yet? The media believes its job is to oppose Trump's enforcement of immigration law, so day after day it will find the most sympathetic victims it can and use them any way they can to try and emotionally manipulate gullible consumers into believing "Trump is bad." Left wing media, much like left wing senators, will present this woman as sympathetically as possible, but never really get around to doing sympathy stories on the families of Americans who were murdered by illegals. Notice that yet? You can't feel the heavy hands of mass media manipulation?
Notice how they never spell out the government's legal basis for holding her? Just an honest oversight I'm sure. Think they might have mentioned fraud makes one ineligible for a green card and lying on your application makes you susceptible to deportation.
wer. It's all well spelled out in the article -
Oh. I guess you didn't understand what this meant.: "which she believed had been expunged, her family said" Is "believing something was expunged" the same as actually expunged or not?
he's been in and out of the country several times without issue
So if you get away with something once, you can never held be responsible for it? Is that the legal standard you are applying?
ave her illegally detained.
You should probably tell a judge. Seems they don't agree.
Sad state of affairs to be sure
pitiful response
What part of the law were they following?
John's law "everyone is equal under the law, except those who break the law in ways I favor."
Do you have a link or quote from any immigration judgement for me to agree to?
It's fraud to not disclose felony convictions on your green card application and deportation is the result. At least I assume that's what happening, because your story never does explain why her "believed expunged" felonies are relevant.
When a government abuses its power it most certainly is a sad state of affairs. It's worse when the electorate makes excuses for it.
Give me one legal reason why this woman should be held on immigration charges?
Unless you have proof that's the case we're done here.
So no proof - just have tingling in your shorts?
I know you can't count on The Guardian to give you an honest account, but why do you think it states's the felonies were "believed expunged" if they weren't actually expunged? Don't you think they would just write "expunged?" Common sense tells you the felonies weren't actually expunged. She was given weeks to prove they were. She couldn't and she was placed in custody.
How anyone could not find this article's failure to spell out the government's case a giant red flag is beyond me. It's obvious propaganda.
o no proof -
Exactly, because your shitty source doesn't bother to actually report what's happening in it's rush to get into feelings. Spelling out she committed fraud and faces deportation for it ruins the vibes. Rational people understand you can't lie on your green card application and not expect to be deported if caught. So they just ignore that part.
This should do it...........AI answered:
Where is your proof to support your positions the felonies are legally relevant?
And my point stands... There are no valid reasons to hold this person. ICE and the Trump Admin are using flimsy excuses to detain anyone they can. They aren't looking for criminals, drug dealers, gun runners and cartel members.
This stupid shit only gives ammunition to left wing populists wanting to take away the power ICE should have and put to better use.
Not disclosing a felony conviction on a green card application is a basis for revocation and deportation.
Is that what happened here?
Wait a minute..We have been told that Trump is targeting only brown and black people for deportation, but here we are with a white woman with an old criminal conviction.
The left's narrative as to who it is we conservatives want deported are confusing and apparently changing weekly.
BTW...For the record, I don't want this woman deported if her conviction was almost 20 years ago and she has a valid green card.
I don't give a shit what you've been told, there are multiple articles in my newsfeed every week about ICE doing dumb shit like this. Like denying someone entry because of an anti-Trump meme on their phone, like ICE not using warrants, or being in uniform to kidnap a student off the street who's only crime is that they once wrote an op-ed in a college paper.
While I don't agree with the politics of some of these people, the idea the government can willfully pick them up off the streets and hold them in subhuman conditions is so repugnant I'm willing to put my uniform back on and retake my oath.
Please provide the link.
OK, we'll play your own game.
Where is your proof to support your positions the there are no valid reasons to hold this person?
Are we just going to go with "The Guardian didn't tell us any so they must not exist"?
Do you understand how algorithms work?
Until you find one and prove The Guardian wrong, yes.
Focusing on algorithms to distract from the many articles showing a pattern of abuse isn't going to work here.
The Guardian hasn't said there are not valid reasons to hold her. Probably because they know there very well might be.
But they don't care. They pumped a little outrage bait into your feed and got their clicks.
Here's one example of what I'm talking about. (bolding mine)
That just means other administration immigration officials didn't do their damn job!
She should have been deported immediately after serving her time.
She is not a US citizen- and immigrants have been deported for far less. Such as letting their VISA's expire.
Neither does it seem like you do either. There's a pattern here and it ain't pretty. You guys just keep it up until the far left actually makes it into power (AOC is already looking into running) and we'll see how you guys really feel.
Not doing things they way you want them done is not the same as not doing them.
She's a green card holder and she still has rights. Sure let's take away the rights of non-citizens.... fine. Then we start changing the rules of citizenship.... makes it easier to change the rules to take away your rights too.
Riiiiight. We definitely mustn't allow a focus on causes of things to distract from the number of things they cause.
I care about the law being upheld. I would very much like to see us change the laws to allow much more immigration, but until we do, we need to abide by the ones we have.
IF Ms. Ward has violated the terms of her immigration situation, she needs to go. If not, she should be allowed to stay. We don't know which of those cases is true yet.
A very ugly pattern we need to recognize is one of people reaching firm, emotionally charged conclusions based on a microscopic fraction of the information involved.
Who is "you guys"? Biden voters? Foreign car owners? Soccer fans? Whiskey drinkers? Charitable foundation chairmen? I am all of those.
Maybe.... just maybe.... you should consider not jumping to conclusions quite so blindly.
She's not the 1st grandmother being deported and won't be the last. But the Trump administration is bound and determined to save this country from the grandmothers of the Irish branch of MS-13.
i'm impressed, thats good.
she's lucky to be white in this case ...
That right there. The US is going lose millions of tourists' dollars.
trumpski has a whole year to destroy the financial lives of his willfully ignorant base to benefit the wealthy ...
Proof he has done anything to suggest this?
They shouldnt be deporting anyone who has a green card.
More good would be done by putting white collar criminals such as wage stealers in prison. But lets get serious.
C'mon John. An eleven-year-old survey? And a Wiki spinoff??
One off topic warning should have been enough.
I admire the sentiment, but that is off topic.
So her record caught up to her. Sorry, can't be outraged over that.
INA § 237(a)(1)(A) — [8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(A)]
➔ Deportability for being inadmissible at the time of entry or adjustment of status based on fraud or misrepresentation (e.g., hiding a felony).
When you’re filling out your green card application, it’s important to be honest and provide sufficient information to USCIS. You should mention every time you were cited, arrested, or charged with a crime, e ven if the charges were later dismissed or if your criminal record has been expunged.
Beware: Lying on an immigration form can make you ineligible for a green card—even if the incident you were trying to hide would not have made you ineligible on its own!
Remember, though, that not all criminal histories will make it impossible to get a green card. According to U.S. immigration law, there are three types of criminal convictions that will make you inadmissible, meaning you can’t receive a green card.
https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/green-card-applicants-with-criminal-records/#:~:text=When%20you're%20filling%20out,They%20are:
This is not a ruling, or charges showing this applies or you're just fishing.
Nothing in this article indicates that this woman ever lied about her record to the government.
And that is the issue not just with this article, but with journalism itself. Seldom do we get the whole story. It's more like the reporter decides his angle and writes the story to match.
We really need another Paul Harvey.
I really miss his show
Sure. That's why I continue to ask anyone with an opinion to put up a fact to support it. SINCE this article is all I know, I'll base my opinion on it UNTIL shown otherwise.
Based, wrongly or rightly, on 17 year old drug charges she has done her time for - Trump told us ICE was removing dangerous criminals - MS-13 & cartel members. Not grandmas who've are here legally. Not students that write an op-ed about Trump, not members of the press and not foreign scientists coming in on H1B visas.
I thought Melania Trump was supposed to clear up her own immigration issues back in Trump's first term. When is that going to be cleared up?
You would think the first thing the zealots in this administration would have done is go after the white foreign motorcycle gang members who traffic everything.
Being American under this administration is just embarrassing. How disgusting. Trump can’t cease to exist soon enough.
Flights leave daily.
It would take a lot of flights to rid this country of your scourge.
Oh, bless your heart. You have nothing to say so you went with the personal attack / sweeping generalization.
[✘]
People voted for stronger immigration enforcement, but they were promised that the priority was deporting dangerous criminals. Instead, the government has gone after the low-hanging fruit: migrant workers with jobs, or people like this lady or Abrego-Garcia, who are here legally but have some blemish in their past, but aren’t hurting anyone and have no reason to evade authorities.
This is not what people voted for. That’s why - even on immigration - Trump’s poll numbers are falling. We can be a nation of laws without being assholes about it.
Absolutely, however when those laws are broken in record numbers, being assholes about it tends to make lawbreakers pay attention. Unfortunately that leads to some getting their tails caught in a crack...
No, going after actual bad guys is what makes bad guys pay attention. And it’s what Americans wanted. Not this shit.
So I laughed when my daughter told me she was nervous that my SIL, who is an Italian citizen, might not be let back into the country (They are in London. He went to run the marathon), because he holds an H1B and I laughed at them... but after hearing this story over the weekend, I have to say, I was a bit shook. We have not told them about it until they get back home.
Immigration is looking through people's phones and denying them reentry when they find anything anti-Trump on them.
I have not heard that.
Do you have unbiased proof? I'm just asking based on your 6.2.3
"That's why I continue to ask anyone with an opinion to put up a fact to support it."
Link?
Trust Me Bro!
@ 10.1.1 & 10.1.2
From the government website -
From Newsweek -
There have been reports that I can't confirm, people at the MN/Canadian border having phones checked with Candians turned away and at least one US citizen who refused to unlock his phone was told they'd keep it until they could unlock it themselves.
Canada, the UK and Europe have issued travel advisories for anyone traveling to the US.
If you think for one second they are only looking for "never Trumpers," you would be sadly mistaken. To wit...
Who was this French Scientist, or is this just yet another made up person to make it look as if what you claim is true?
You got anything to dispute the claim?
Uh huh... sure. Let's see...
OMG!!! Photos?? I see you don't appreciate the Freedom of Speech... I do seem to remember you not liking the Progressives wanting to remove freedom of speech from right wingers speaking on campuses a few years ago.
Perhaps the left can use the same tactics when they are in power and revoke status', deny entry and remove anyone that they detest? They could use the same Executive emergency declarations against anyone they deem an enemy. Should they convince the courts to send foreign born spouses of citizens to El Salvadorian prisons too? Round up undesirables and transport them to left friendly jurisdictions for favorable deportation orders? Flight them in the middle of the night before another court can stop them? Ignore court orders to return them? I'm sure you'd be good with that...
I'll keep telling you guys on the far right and the far left you all keep saying the same things about each other and wanting to use the same authoritarian ideas to keep you compliant. Fuck that.
You made the claim. It is up to you to provide proof. That's how the site and life, work.
Proof of what? I've been proving the hypocrisy of hyperpartisan bootlickers for decades now. Only the willfully blind can't see it.
Dispute what.
Your "source" made a claim of a French scientist. A legitimate source would put out this "scientist's" name and even interview him/her.
But this article????
Nothing