Brazilian woman left with ‘black mark on immigraton record’

The young Brazilian woman who was jailed overnight after arriving in Dublin airport has been left with a "black mark on her immigration record" after she was refused entry into Ireland two weeks ago.

Paloma Aparezida Silva-Carvalho (24), who spent a night in the Dóchas women's prison after she was stopped at Dublin airport on July 18th, left Ireland for Switzerland on Monday evening.

Ms Carvalho was in Ireland to visit the Müller-Wieland family in Moycullen, Co Galway, for whom she had worked as an au pair between September 2015 and December 2016.

However, she was detained by Garda immigration officers and “refused permission to land” on the grounds that she intended to find work in Ireland without a valid employment permit despite confirmation by the Müller-Wieland family that she was in Ireland for a holiday.

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She was released on July 19th after one night in prison, and given permission to stay in Ireland for 14 days. Her passport was confiscated.

On Monday morning, the Müller-Wieland family brought Ms Carvalho to Dublin airport where she was met by a representative from the Department of Justice who returned her passport. The family had arranged for the airport chaplain, Fr Des Doyle, to accompany Ms Carvalho to her flight.

"I was so afraid to go alone. I thought that someone from the gardaí would be there to escort me to the plane," Ms Carvalho told The Irish Times on the phone from Switzerland. "The priest was so kind and tried to calm me down and said he would be with me the whole time."

Ms Carvalho said goodbye to the Müller-Wieland family not knowing if she will be able to return to Ireland. “I tried to be strong and not cry in front of the children. It was awful leaving the family.”

Ms Carvalho reached her Aer Lingus flight without any problems. It was only when the plane began its descent into Zurich that she began feeling nervous again.

“I knew I was going to have to meet immigration again and started to worry. But the immigration in Switzerland was so nice and just asked the normal questions like how long are you going to stay and who are you staying with.”

Large cross

Ms Carvalho’s passport now has a stamp with the date of her arrival in Ireland and a large cross marked through the middle.

Barrister and lecturer in immigration law Patricia Brazil said the cross through the stamp, which shows Ms Carvalho was refused leave to land by the Irish State, would remain as a “black mark on her immigration record”.

She will also have to disclose that she was refused leave to land when applying for visas to visit other countries in the future.

Ms Brazil clarified that Ms Carvalho had not been deported, but would almost certainly face immigration barriers if she returned to Ireland in the future.

“It would automatically set her apart and put officials on notice that there is something problematic with her situation. There will not just be consequences in Ireland but elsewhere also.

“Not every country asks for this information but very often you’ll find that it may be an offence not to disclose that you were refused leave to land. The information alerts them and put you on their radar as someone who has to be further investigated.”

Ms Carvalho was granted 14 days to remain in Ireland after she was detained by immigration officials. The decision as to how long a person may remain in the country after being refused leave to land often comes down to the discretion of the individual immigration officer, said Ms Brazil.

A statement from the Department of Justice said a person who is refused leave to land, but who is not held in custody during his or her stay in Ireland, does “not have leave to remain; they continue to be persons without permission to be in the State who are subject to reporting conditions pending their removal”.

The Department spokesman failed to confirm why Ms Carvalho was given 14 days to remain in Ireland, saying it did not comment on individual cases.

Ms Carvalho is still struggling to come to terms with her encounter with Irish immigration. “I’ve been trying to forget everything but it’s very difficult. Last night, even though I was in Switzerland with my fiance, it was difficult to sleep. I woke up twice crying and was having bad dreams all night.”

Before last month’s trip to Ireland, Ms Carvalho had planned to return to Brazil to train as a flight attendant. She and her partner had also discussed moving to Ireland. “I still love Ireland but it’s difficult to imagine going back again. I got no apology at all.”