Congressman hopes US government will 'do the right thing' in case of Ice detainee Cliona
Cliona Ward has a court date on May 7, which will determine whether or not she will be allowed to return to her home in California. File picture
A local congressman for the Californian home town of Irish detainee Cliona Ward, who is being held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (Ice), has said her case will be a “tough” one but that he is hopeful the US government will “do the right thing”.
Ms Ward, a 54-year-old Dublin native who has lived in America for more than 40 years, was taken into custody by Ice officials on April 21 on foot of a quarter-century old drugs conviction which had been expunged.
She is currently being held far from her home in California in an Ice detention centre in Tacoma, Washington, while awaiting a court hearing of her case.
Speaking to the , congressman for California’s 19 th district, which incorporates Cliona’s hometown of Santa Cruz, Jimmy Panetta said her situation may not be quite so dire as some of those recently deported from the US in that she has been “afforded some due process”, adding that people in her locality are “very concerned with this case, as we should be”.
“She has a court date of May 7, she has attained legal counsel, and her family is being very, very supportive, and we are working with her legal team,” Mr Panetta said, adding that he is attempting to have Cliona sign a “privacy waiver” which will “allow us to work on her case with the federal Government”.
The congressman noted that he had been in Ireland last week and had brought the matter to the attention of Fianna Fáil senator Mark Daly.
“We’ve got a lot more to do and it’s going to be a tough case unfortunately because the law leaves it up to this administration to use its discretion at times like this. I was a prosecutor for over 20 years, and what I was taught is it’s not just about the law or the facts, it’s about using your discretion to do what’s right in applying the facts to the law,” Mr Panetta said.
“That is going to be my goal, to make sure the administration uses its discretion to do the right thing, to make them realise that Cliona is not the person that we should be targeting in your deportation policy.”
The congressman said that he is “all for removing criminals... who are here in an undocumented status” and said in his opinion the Trump administration’s sole success to date has been in stemming the tide of migration across America’s southern border.
Nevertheless, he said that Cliona Ward is not a criminal, adding that targeting legal residents on technicalities such as Cliona’s while ignoring due process laws is “clearly misguided” and a “dumb thing” to do.
“Yes, she had some indiscretions 20 years ago, but she clearly has taken steps to remediate and to improve herself, as proven by the fact she worked to expunge those cases from her record, that she works for a nonprofit, that she takes care of her family right now and really contributes to our community,” he said.
“That is the type of immigrant that we want here in our country.”
“These types of misguided and cruel policies can deter tourism,” Mr Panetta said, noting that hospitality is “a top-two industry” in his district, adding that people thinking of entering the US at present need to have “a wherewithal of what this administration is doing and how they are acting”.
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