The morning after Donald Trump was re-elected, pledging the largest deportation initiative in US history, the phone at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center in Queens, New York, began to ring incessantly.
“There is a lot of fear,” stated John Stahl, Director of Immigration Legal Services at the center, which receives partial funding from the Irish Government.
“We’re getting inquiries from both legal and undocumented immigrants, all concerned due to the discussions about tightening regulations,” he remarked.
Those without documents tend to be more hesitant to seek assistance, he noted.
“We advise them to seek legal counsel to understand their status,” Mr. Stahl said, “and they should prepare for the possibility of arrest and deportation,” he added.
Considerations include what would happen to their children—whether they have obtained Irish passports for them if the family decides to leave together, or if legal guardians have been appointed for the children remaining in the US, he explained.
One undocumented immigrant in a suburb of New York City, who wished to remain anonymous, has lived in the US for over 20 years. His children, born here, are citizens of the US.
We need your consent to load this rte-player content. We use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences
Despite lacking legal status, Sean (a pseudonym) has consistently found work in New York’s restaurants, bars, and construction sites.
“Did I build a decent life in America? I’d have to say yes,” he told RTÉ News.
However, to maintain their lives in the US, both Sean and his wife, who is also undocumented, cannot return to Ireland for fear of being barred from re-entering the US upon their return.
Above all, the memory of his mother’s passing is the most painful for him.
“You want to attend your own mother’s funeral, to carry her alongside my brothers, but I couldn’t go. That was incredibly tough,” he shared.
Mr. Trump mandated the deportation of 1.5 million undocumented immigrants during his first term.
“It’s not just my situation, many Irish individuals face this every day because we can’t return,” he added.
Accurate statistics on the number of undocumented Irish in the US are difficult to ascertain, with estimates varying drastically between 10,000 and 50,000.
Over the years, there have been multiple initiatives by the Irish Government and US Congress members aimed at securing amnesty for undocumented Irish immigrants or additional visas.
The last attempt to allocate remaining visas from the E-3 visa program for Australia to Irish citizens failed by a mere one vote, which was cast by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a notable Trump ally.
With Donald Trump set to potentially return to the White House, the likelihood of reviving such measures appears slim.
Some analysts postulate that the new administration will likely focus on deporting criminals.
However, Fiona McEntee, managing attorney at McEntee Law Group in Chicago, is skeptical.
“There are many commentators who don’t work in this field who claim that he’s only targeting the ‘bad guys’,” she said.
“My counterargument is to examine the executive orders signed previously.”
When they state their intention to deport all undocumented immigrants, that is genuinely their intention, she added.
“They campaigned on that promise, and voters supported them with that expectation; thus, we shouldn’t be surprised if chaos returns in January,” she stated.
Mass deportations have a long-standing history in US politics. Former President Barack Obama was labeled “deporter-in-chief” for sending approximately three million people back during his eight years in office.
Former President George W. Bush managed around two million deportations following the September 11 attacks in 2001, while Mr. Trump removed 1.5 million during his initial presidential term.
This time, Mr. Trump aims to surpass all previous records.
Yet, millions of undocumented immigrants are integral to several sectors of the US economy, notably in food production, agriculture, and manufacturing.
A recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington DC revealed that undocumented immigrants contributed $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022.
“Those tax dollars that undocumented immigrants provide to our three major social safety net programs—Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance—are ultimately utilized by American citizens,” explained Marco Guzman, one of the report’s authors.
“Undocumented immigrants cannot access these benefits due to their status,” he added.
Sean believes that many US employers purposely overlook the undocumented status of their employees.
“It’s a farce—that’s the entire hypocrisy of the situation,” he commented.
“You pay federal and state taxes, and they are aware that the funds they receive come from someone without a social security number and who isn’t supposed to be here,” he remarked, “but the treasury never declines donations,” he added.
As Mr. Trump’s return to the White House looms, is Sean feeling anxious?
“I’m not too worried about it,” Sean said.
“What’s the worst they could do to us, send us back home?” he concluded.
