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Sunday World
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Sunday World
Family of Irish woman released by US immigration worried about ‘lasting traumatic effects'
'Each of you have literally helped to save Cliona's life' The family of Irish woman Cliona Ward, who had been detained by US immigration, have said they do to know what 'lasting traumatic effects' there will be following her release. Her sister, Orla Holladay, said Ms Ward is at home, and for now, 'is in this place of absolute grace'. 'She keeps saying, 'I'm like a new baby in this world', everything just feels so surreal,' Orla wrote in an update to a GoFundMe page that had been set up after Ms Ward was detained on April 21. While the family was 'completely humbled and grateful for your support and donations' , Ms Holladay said, 'it's hard to know right now what the lasting traumatic effects this will have'. 'Cliona is finally in her own bed and we are all ready for some quiet and reflection,' she said in an earlier update. 'I will leave the GoFundMe open because Cliona wants to be able to say something to you all on an update. Cliona Ward News in 90 Seconds - May 9th 'But at this point you can consider it an absolute and beautiful success - each of you have literally helped to save Cliona's life as she knows it and we love you for your humanity and kindness.' Ms Ward, an Irish-born green card holder and long-time resident of California, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco Airport after returning from Ireland to see her father. She was detained in relation to decades old convictions that she understood had been expunged, despite travelling abroad many times over the years without issue. Her lawyer confirmed that these convictions, which it was revealed had been expunged on a state level and not a federal level, have now been vacated as Ms Ward had not been made aware of their impact on her immigration status. California Congressman Jimmy Panetta said the case was an example of the Trump administration's 'overreaching deportation policies that can sweep up people like Cliona'. Ms Ward, who was detained for more than two weeks days in a US immigration detention centre in Seattle, is 'thrilled to be released and she is mortified that she had been detained over decades-old, expunged convictions,' said her immigration lawyer, Michael Mehr. Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Mehr said deportation proceedings had been initiated against Ms Ward upon her return to the US from Ireland, despite her providing documentation that showed her convictions has been expunged. He said these convictions have now been vacated in the state of California as Ms Ward had not been aware that their expungement had not been recognised at a federal level and she had not been advised of the consequences to her immigration status. Mr Mehr said she was given 'no idea that after an expungement and dismissal that they would still be recognised for immigration purposes'. He added that the case is 'unusual' as prior to US President Donald Trump's inauguration such an issue 'might have led to removal proceedings but definitely, it would not have led to her detention'. He said the current administration has taken a 'zero tolerance policy, that people should be detained and not released even if they are not a security risk'.
Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Cliona Ward: How a Midleton family outshone America's dark immigration system
For weeks we had known it was coming. The Trump administration's aggressive crackdown on alleged illegal immigration had given rise to so many horror stories, it was surely only a matter of time before an Irish citizen was affected, not least given the sheer amount of undocumented Irish living in the US. The surprise, really, was that the case, when it inevitably happened, was taken against a person who had been quietly, legally, living in America for more than 40 years. The Ward family is a plainly ordinary one which became caught up in the most horrible, extraordinary circumstances. Cliona Ward, the 54-year-old Dublin-born woman who found herself at the centre of a nightmare, had been living in the US, along with her younger sister Orla, for more than 40 years, 30 of them in Santa Cruz, California. Her green card is valid and not due to expire until 2033. She had travelled to and from Ireland without notice for years. The warning signs were there, however, when Cliona returned from a trip to Cork in late March, having chaperoned her 86-year-old stepmother to see her father — who is living with dementia in a nursing home in Youghal. She was detained at Seattle Airport upon arrival into the US, and held for three days. The reasons for this were technical, but similar situations have seen multiple travellers detained since Donald Trump took office last January and began delivering on his campaign promise to deliver the greatest mass deportation in history. Immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) officials are reportedly under orders to deliver a minimum 75 arrests per day for each of its offices, 1,800 in total. When under that kind of pressure, numbers become more important than accuracy. Cliona had fallen foul of the law a number of times close to 20 years ago. For several years, she struggled with addiction. She picked up a couple of felony convictions, one for possession of crystal methamphetamine. It is also true to say she turned her life around, earned a qualification, cared for her son, and lived a fruitful life. Displaying not a little foresight, she moved to have her convictions expunged from her record in tandem with the upturn in her fortunes. While this was achieved at a state level in California, it seems the expungement was not replicated at a federal government level. In a country the size of the US, with 50 competing autonomous state administrations, red tape fails of that sort are two a penny. To an adrenalised Ice at present, however, any bureaucratic question represents an immediate opportunity. To make matters worse, while the agency has always had enormous powers in terms of deportation, under Trump it has been let off the leash completely. Cliona was released from Seattle on March 22 and ordered to present evidence of her expunged convictions at San Francisco Airport a month later, which she duly did, only to be arrested and transported to Ice's detention facility in Tacoma, Washington — 900 miles from her home. What ensued was a living nightmare for her and her family. Conditions in Ice's for-profit prisons are notoriously inhospitable. Unlike many detained by US immigration officials, Cliona Ward had a formidable support network. They are designed to be that way, all the better to discourage people from entering the country illegally. But in her own way, Cliona was fortunate. She and her family are educated and fluent in English, and she had a formidable support network to fall back on. From day one, her sole concern was that she would become "lost" in the system. Cliona met so many other women during her time in Tacoma — without English, without loved ones they could contact — who had vanished without trace in the system, bussed from state to state, detention centre to detention centre. Cliona's family was not about to let that happen. 'We have a lot of eyes on her, and we're being very vocal about this,' Cliona's sister Tracey, who still lives in Midleton, said a week after her sister's arrest. The family set up a GoFundMe to help with Cliona's inevitable legal bills, stemming from having to retain legal counsel in two states. They provided constant updates for the media, for family, and friends. The Wards are a spiritual family, with no interest in the limelight. But they did what they had to do. They befriended a champion in local Democratic congressman Jimmy Panetta. A former prosecutor, Panetta has made clear he is no fan of criminals. But he also made clear that, in light of Cliona's redemption arc, deporting her for a decades-old conviction 'does nothing for our nation'. Panetta was instrumental in securing post-conviction relief for Cliona, effectively overturning her previous convictions. And when she finally appeared in front of a judge in Seattle on May 7, she was informed the case against her was to be dropped immediately. She was free. What happens next? The Wards will return to their normal lives. They hope the trauma Cliona experienced is something she can overcome. A quiet, empathetic soul with a strong will, the odds are in her favour. But this particular mosquito bite on the rear end of Trump's grotesque deportation policy may prove to be an influential one. Cracks are starting to show in terms of how this most inept and boorish of Governments functions. They have moved to suppress academic freedom with the threat of lost funding for America's most revered universities, only to meet pushback when they went too far in targeting Harvard. They tried to deny federal funding for school lunches in Maine when its governor declined to implement the administration's hopelessly cruel anti-trans policy ahead of the state's own laws. They lost in court. And they tried to deport an Irish woman who had lived peacefully there for 40 years for the most spurious of reasons. But this time, right-thinking people stood up to be counted and common sense prevailed. With luck, Cliona Ward's success this week will shine as a beacon of light for others similarly plunged into a nightmare not of their own making.
Irish Independent
08-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Irish woman Cliona Ward ‘full of gratitude' following release from US immigration facility
Irish woman Cliona Ward, who was detained for more than two weeks by US immigration as she returned from a trip to Ireland, is 'full of gratitude' following her release, her sister has said. Ms Ward, an Irish-born green card holder and long-time resident of California, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco Airport after returning from Ireland to see her father.
Irish Examiner
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Family fear 'depressed and scared' Cliona Ward could be detained in US 'for months'
The family of a "depressed and scared" Irish woman being detained by the US immigration service fear their sister could be imprisoned 'for months' as her legal team tries to secure her release. Cliona Ward, the 54-year-old Dublin-born woman in question, has been held at a US immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Tacoma, Washington state, since her arrest on April 21 at San Francisco Airport. While Cliona has been living in America for more than four decades and has a valid green card, her arrest appears to have been predicated upon two criminal convictions she received in the 2000s for drug possession – convictions which she had believed had been expunged from her record. Now, in an update to a Gofundme launched to aid Cliona in securing legal counsel in Seattle – roughly 1,500 miles from her hometown of Santa Cruz in California – her sister Orla Holladay said that '(I ) wish I had something positive to update but unfortunately I don't'. 'The harsh reality is that Cliona could be held prisoner for months while we plea for her release,' Ms Holladay said. She said her sister 'is depressed and scared' and that communication has proven difficult as 'every time we talk the connection is so bad that we can barely hear each other'. 'We eventually give up ending the call, defeated and frustrated and sad." Ms Holladay said that it had come as a relief for Cliona when she had found out that legal representation had been secured for her, but said that the conditions in which she is being held are extremely inhospitable. 'The water is undrinkable, the food is not fit to eat, and her biggest consolation today was that her lawyer was able to bring her a pen,' she said. The Gofundme had raised $37,755 against a target of $40,000 at the time of writing. Ms Ward, the latest high-profile victim of the Trump administration's hardline crackdown on alleged illegal immigration, had first encountered issues with the system when returning from Ireland after visiting her ill father in Cork on March 19, when she was detained for several days in Seattle. She was subsequently released and told to present evidence that her previous criminal convictions – which date from 2007 and 2008 – had been expunged. It was when attending that appointment at San Francisco Airport on April 21 that she was taken into ICE custody. It's believed that the issue which has brought her into the administration's sights is that her convictions had been removed from her record at a state level, but not at a federal one. An employee with a non-profit Christian charity, Ms Ward ordinarily serves as a full-time carer for her son, who is living with chronic Crohn's Disease.
NZ Herald
25-04-2025
- NZ Herald
Eight Kiwis detained at US border since November, MFAT reminds travellers of entry rules amid SafeTravel review
While the measures are meant to specifically target illegal immigration into the US, travellers from around the world have reportedly been detained while attempting to enter the country as tourists. One Kiwi woman in her 40s was allegedly detained at San Francisco Airport for 15 hours and forced to buy a return ticket to New Zealand after officials took issue with the visa she'd been issued by the State Department. Planning to visit her partner in Florida, who works on a fixed-term contract, before holidaying in Europe, the woman was allegedly questioned for five hours over her visa, Arizona-based author Wendilynn Kay alleged in a post reshared on Facebook. 'She obtained the necessary visas, could provide proof of income and proof that she was leaving,' the post alleged, describing her as someone with 'no criminal record or history of political activism'. With officials allegedly left unsatisfied with her visa, she was made to buy an 'exceptionally expensive' ticket home and was walked to her gate in chains. 'She was humiliated and is still deeply traumatised.' Similarly, two young German backpackers who arrived in Honolulu from New Zealand in mid-March were detained by border officials suspecting they planned to work illegally in the US. Having only booked their first two nights in an Airbnb for flexibility, the women - aged 18 and 19 - were questioned before being held in a detention facility overnight after they were found 'inadmissible'. 'They took our phones, our passports, and put us in handcuffs - that moment was surreal. Like, you're a tourist and now you're treated like a criminal,' one of the travellers recently wrote on Reddit's backpacking subreddit. 'It was a real jail ... they made us do a full strip search ... I don't want to describe it in too much detail, but it was humiliating and scary.' An MFAT spokesperson told the Herald it was 'aware of eight New Zealanders who have been detained at US borders, and one New Zealander arrested for immigration-related reasons, since 1 November 2024″. 'For privacy reasons, no further information will be provided.' SafeTravel's US travel advice level is currently at level 2 - 'exercise increased caution' - 'due to the threat of terrorism'. There are 85 other countries at level 2. MFAT said it has 'long-standing advice' that travellers should check with a US embassy or consulate for how their situation may affect entry into the country, given its 'strict entry and stay rules'. Current advice for LGBTQIA+ travellers For LGBTQIA+ travellers, clearer information is expected from the SafeTravel review as other countries begin issuing warnings for transgender and gender-diverse citizens visiting the US. LGBTQIA+ individuals are advised by TravelSafe to be wary of countries' laws and customs when travelling overseas. However, there's yet to be changes to its advisory informing US-bound transgender and gender-diverse Kiwis of increased risks upon arrival at the border compared to earlier years. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order titled 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government', which proclaimed the US will only recognise two sexes. The January 20 executive order states all government-issued identification documents must now reflect one's 'immutable biological classification as either male or female'. 'We will only issue passports with an M or F sex marker that match the customer's biological sex at birth,' the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs said on its website, suspending the issuing of those with an 'X' identifier. New Zealand has recognised the 'X' gender identifier on passports and other official identification documents since 2009. While the State Department has clarified that passports differing from one's assigned sex at birth 'will remain valid for travel until their expiration date', at least six European countries have updated their guidelines warning that travellers may be denied US entry if their documents don't match it. Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Portugal have all recommended affected citizens contact a US embassy or consulate for advice. MFAT directed the Herald to its TravelSafe page for LGBTQIA+ travellers when questioned whether there will be any US-specific information for transgender or gender-diverse travellers in its updated advisory. This month, Auckland University told staff and students planning US travel to 'think carefully about how you might be affected prior to booking' and to contact its Risk Office for 'further guidance' in a since-deleted advisory on its website. US trans actor Hunter Schafer, 26, slammed the Trump Administration over the identification changes in February, revealing her passport gender marker had been changed to male despite having female-marked identification documents 'coming up on a decade now'. 'This is the first time this has happened to me since I changed my gender marker... and I do believe it is a direct result of the administration our country is currently operating under,' Schafer said.
