Cliona's detention in US 'scary, messy, and exhausting', says sister
Cliona Ward, right, has been returning from a trip to visit her ill father in his retirement home in Youghal, Cork.
The sister of an Irish woman detained by American immigration services has described the situation as “scary, messy, and exhausting” as the Government works behind the scenes to set her free.
Cliona Ward, the 54-year-old California resident who was arrested by US immigration and customs enforcement officers on April 21 after returning from a trip to Ireland to see her ill father, is currently being held in a detention centre in Tacoma, Washington.
Her case will not be heard by a court before May 7 at the earliest.
Cliona, a Christian charity worker who was born in Dublin, has been living in the US for more than 40 years and has a full valid green card.
“It is scary and it is messy, we are all just exhausted by it — with the time difference — trying to all stay in communication," Tracey Ward, Cliona’s elder sister, told the from her home in Midleton, Cork.
Ms Ward said that, since being detained, her sister had been denied access to a phone and informed that “as a green card holder, she has no rights”.
“We’re just trying to sort her basic human needs, that’s where we’re at. She has a court date coming, so we’re trying to find a lawyer in Seattle — but it’s a totally different State, she is away from all that she knows,” Ms Ward, who is 56 and who herself returned to live in Ireland in 1999, said.
She said that Cliona had taken her recent trip to Ireland as a chaperone to her stepmother to see her father, 81-year-old Owen Ward, who is living with dementia in a retirement home in Youghal.
While Cliona struggled with addiction more than 20 years ago, her sister said she has been “clean and sober for more than 20 years”.
Tracy added that Cliona's convictions had been expunged, though at a state rather than federal level.
“It was gone from her state record, but federally it was still there. People think it’s no big deal but, unless you go through the process of vacating it, you’re in jeopardy with how the US system is working at the moment,” Tracey said of the 25-year-old conviction which led directly to her sister’s detention.
On Monday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that consular assistance is being provided to the Wards. He added that the Government would be supporting the family “to get this issue resolved”.
“Our advice is consistent in terms of, where people have green cards for example or citizenship rights or so on, there shouldn't be an issue,” he said, adding that the Government will be pursuing the matter “on a bilateral basis” with the American administration.
Cliona’s family, meanwhile, has launched a GoFundMe campaign page to help pay for a defence.
Tracey said that she believes her sister’s “white privilege” will help her to navigate the system in a way not always accessible to minorities.
She said the family “all just feel so lost and far away”.
“I’m devastated for her. It is very scary. She is such a quiet empathetic person,” she said.
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