Boy, 4, faces deportation over mother’s student visa

THE mother of a four-year-old boy, who faces deportation if he does not enrol in a private primary school, said she will not allow him to go back to the United States without her.

Aidan Britton and his mother Erin Britton face deportation if the junior infants pupil continues to use the services of the state education system.

Ms Britton, who comes from Indiana, south of Chicago, is studying for a master’s degree in medieval studies in NUI Galway.

Yesterday, she applied to the High Court to overturn a decision by the State to refuse her a student visa because her child is using public education here.

Ms Britton came to Galway to study last year and brought her son with her. James Britton, her husband, came to Ireland to see his family settled, but returned to the US.

Initially, Aidan attended montessori school and in September it was decided he should start junior infants in the Claddagh National School in Galway city.

“I was going to send him back to montessori, but he was considered to be very advanced for his years,” his mother said.

Aidan’s plight began when Ms Britton, who pays €12,000 a year in fees, applied to renew her student visa in order to complete the second year in her master’s degree.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau threatened to have her deported because existing laws do not allow holders of student visas to avail of publicly funded education for their children.

There is just one fee-paying primary school available to Aidan in the Galway area and that is run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

“Even if I could move him to a private school, I don’t have any options. I am not a Seventh Day Adventist and I don’t have any other choice. I can’t disrupt his education. I am a mom, that is my first job. If he was deported I would not allow him to go back to America without me,” said Ms Britton.

Aidan will be allowed to stay in the Claddagh National School while the court decides on his future.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland’s senior solicitor Hilkka Becker represented Ms Britton in the High Court, where she was granted leave to apply for a judicial review of the government’s decision.

Ms Becker said the Government has acted unfairly because it gave Ms Britton no notice of its change in policy, she received no decision in writing and was given no opportunity to appeal.

“It is ironic that the day before the UN’s International Migrants’ Day, we are in court seeking leave for a judicial review of a decision which we firmly believe breaches the Irish constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” she said.