THE case of seven former political prisoners from Northern Ireland who are facing deportation from the US will be appealed to President Clinton, a Congressional hearing heard here yesterday.
Mr Clinton will be urged to used his influence to amend immigration laws under which the men are, now liable to be deported because they concealed their convictions in Northern Ireland when applying for US visas. All of the men have been living for years in the US and six of them are married to American women.
The wives presented their plight to a hearing of the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs.
While tribute was paid to President Clinton's role in the peace process, there was also criticism that he signed a Bill last year which makes the men's situation more difficult. The Bill, passed as part of an election year clampdown on illegal immigration, especially from Mexico, was made retroactive.
Mr David Martin, representing the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) told the committee that in recent years Congress had made the law more stringent, "greatly reducing the discretion formerly given to the Attorney General to take account of individual ameliorating circumstances".
Mr Ben Gilman, chairman of the House Committee on International Affairs, as well as co chairman of the ad hoc committee, regretted that "deportation still hangs over these men".
The three other co chairmen, Congressmen Tom Manton, Peter King and Richard Neal, also called for a halt to the deportation proceedings.