Irish immigrant’s arrest highlights race's role in deportationBy Kenya Downs
PRI The World
8 hours ago
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40332646
John Cunningham had been living in the US without papers since 1999 KENYA DOWNSAfter a high-profile deportation, undocumented Irish immigrants are on edge, and trying to help Latino immigrants who are more likely targets for immigration officials.John Cunningham came to Boston in 1999. Like many Irish immigrants to the US, he arrived on a 90-day visa for summer work. But then he settled in, worked as an electrician and ran his own company, remaining in the country without authorisation.
"All of a sudden you turn around, so much time has gone by, and you start to realise what is going to be in store for yourself for the future," Cunningham said in a March interview
with the Irish Times.
On 16 June, nearly two decades later, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents came to his home to arrest him. He was deported to Ireland on 5 July. Because he arrived in the US under the visa waiver programme, one commonly used by European immigrants, he had waived his right to a hearing.
...
Cunningham became the first high-profile Irish immigrant deported under President Donald Trump, and it's created a chilling effect in Boston.
"There were shock waves sent through the community, a disbelief that this was actually happening," said Millar, a close friend of Cunningham's.
...
"Most people think undocumented and they think people who come across the southern border," Cunningham said in an interview with this reporter a year before his arrest. "They're not thinking about the Irish guy who lives right next to them."
Jerry, Millar and Cunningham all acknowledged that, as white men, they can fly under the radar of those who associate unauthorised immigrants with Mexico and Central America.
[VIDEO: Where do America's undocumented immigrants live?]
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Excerpt. Read more at
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40332646
