Undocumented Irish people in the United States would be “low-hanging fruit” should US president-elect Donald Trump carry out the sweeping programme of deportations he pledged to oversee during his election campaign, an immigration expert has said.
John Foley, of Foley Law Offices PC in Boston, said he would “not be sleeping well” if he was living in the US illegally given the “draconian changes” promised by the incoming Republican administration, which has said it aims to deport one million people per year.
Mr Trump told NBC on Thursday his government would have “no choice” but to remove large numbers of illegals and that making the US border “strong and powerful” will be a priority once he takes office in January. There are estimated to be about 12 million undocumented people living in the US.
Members of immigrant communities are fearing the worst, but the New York Immigration Coalition said Mr Trump has “underestimated our strength before, and we will show him once again that we are united and resilient”.
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“Donald Trump has demonised our communities and promised to tear our families apart starting on day one, but we will not be intimidated,” said coalition president Murad Awawdeh.
Mr Foley said most undocumented Irish in the US arrived on a 90-day visa waiver scheme and people in this category will “most likely be targeted”.
“The low-hanging fruit, the easiest ones to deport, are the ones who don’t have to go in front of an immigration judge, so those would be the visa waiver overstays and the Irish would be in that community,” he said. “People have been here for decades and survived under the radar and they put on a good face, but when they get in the office behind a closed door, they clearly express their fears.”
Advocates argue the approach set out by Mr Trump would be hugely expensive, divisive and inhumane, and could devastate communities and the labour market. However, he insisted “there is no price tag” when it comes to ending the border “invasion”.
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“When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here,” he said, adding that he and his supporters “like people coming in” but they must “come in legally”.
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