ENGEL URGES RIDGE TO HALT DEPORTATION OF IRISH REFUGEE; December 23, 2003

Tuesday December 23, 2003
ENGEL URGES RIDGE TO HALT DEPORTATION OF IRISH REFUGEE

Washington, DC - Today, Rep. Eliot Engel called upon Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge to suspend deportation of Ciaran Ferry and to consider releasing him from custody.

The following is the text of the letter to Secretary Ridge:

Dear Secretary Ridge:

We write to you today regarding the current legal action against Ciaran Ferry (A 95 424 147). Mr. Ferry is one of a half dozen Irish nationals who are presently being prosecuted by the U.S. government for immigration violations.

Following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended the conflict in Northern Ireland and which the United States helped negotiate, the U.S. government suspended deportation for a number of Irish nationals charged with offenses in Northern Ireland arising out of that conflict. We respectfully request that you suspend deportation for Mr. Ferry as well and consider releasing him from custody in Golden, Colorado on an Order of Supervision; extending the same courtesy you recently granted to another Irish asylum seeker, Malachy McAllister.

In 2000, just a few months after being informed that his home address and personal details were on a loyalist death list, Mr. Ferry and his American-born wife, Heaven, decided to live and raise their family in the United States. Their daughter, Fiona Rose, was also born here in the United States on June 1, 2001. If he is deported, Mr. Ferry fears he and his family will face the same dangers they escaped from when they left Northern Ireland. In addition, Mr. Ferry is neither a threat to the United States nor its citizens.

We respectfully request you suspend the deportation proceedings for Mr. Ferry and consider releasing him from custody in Golden, Colorado. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Rep. Eliot Engel

The letter was also signed by Reps. Peter King (R-NY), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), John Sweeney (R-NY), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Ed Towns (D-NY), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (C-NY), Richard Neal (D-MA), and Frank Pallone (D-NY).

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