Deportation orders surge as 38 detained in Dublin immigration crackdown
Some 23 males and 15 females were arrested after they went to sign on to notify the State of their whereabouts, as requested, at the Garda National Immigration Bureau. Picture: Garda Press Office
A total of 38 asylum seekers were arrested this week in a planned deportation operation in Dublin.
Twenty-three males and 15 females were arrested after they went to sign on to notify the State of their whereabouts, as requested, at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).
Those detained have previously been turned down for asylum.
Speaking in Cork on Friday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was not familiar with the details of the case, but added that Ireland, in common with the US and all other countries, had its own laws around migration and the seeking of asylum.
“There are rules there, we want to be fair and firm in our rules as well,” he said.
“I’m conscious all of the time that a lot of people come into Ireland legally and we have had very significant migration into Ireland.
“On the asylum front, there has to be a framework there, there has to be a legal one."
Asked if he would be concerned about scenes of families being separated during Thursday's operation outside the GNIB, Mr Martin said: “We’re always concerned with that, and what we have sought to do is to make sure that people don’t wait too long in terms of the applications, that the applications would be dealt with quickly, and that the appeals also would be dealt with quickly.
“It is fair to say that in the past they took an inordinate length of time to progress, and many of them ended up in the legal arena.
“It can be very traumatic for families, I acknowledge that, and again, over the years I think we’ve been fair about that.”
The Department of Justice said it has taken action to significantly improve immigration enforcement measures and increase removals.
In 2025, 4,700 deportation orders were signed, an increase of 96% compared to 2024.
In 2025, six charter flight operations removed 205 people from the State.
Of these, five operations to non-EU destinations removed 182 people who were subject to deportation orders.
One operation removed 23 EU citizens on grounds of criminality.
There were 434 deportations in total last year, 185 of which were enforced.
There were 1,616 voluntary returns.
“A deportation order is a legal order to leave the State,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
“Any person who has been ordered to leave the State and fails to do so, within the timeframe issued with the deportation order, is committing a criminal offence and can be arrested without warrant if they come into contact with An Garda Síochána.
“Such an order remains on the person’s record permanently, unless revoked — it means they may not enter Ireland again in future.”
Madeleine Breetzke, 25, said her brother and father were among those arrested and taken away when they went to GNIB on Thursday.
The family had been living in a direct provision centre in Millstreet, Co Cork, for almost five years and Madeleine has been working in a nursing home in Mallow.
The family's application for asylum was rejected and they were notified that they must leave Ireland.
Madeleine said she is worried that the deportation order may preclude her from claiming asylum in the US or attaining a visa elsewhere.
“If Ireland doesn’t want me that’s fine. But please remove the deportation order so I can claim asylum somewhere else," she said.
A return to South Africa would be a death sentence for her family, she said, claiming that her family was threatened with death and rape at their farm before they fled to Ireland.
All of the people arrested on Thursday for deportation who spoke to the were from South Africa.
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