A Reprieve for McAllisters?

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A Reprieve for McAllisters?

November 7, 2007

By Cahir O’Doherty

MALACHY McAllister, the former Republican prisoner, has received a powerful boost in his continuing fight against deportation by the Department of Homeland Security. Last Friday Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey introduced a private relief bill to give McAllister, his son Sean, 19, and daughter Nicola, 21, permanent residency in the U.S.

It is understood that Menendez’s bill may offer McAllister and his family a temporary reprieve from deportation until January 2009, when a new presidential administration takes over. A private relief bill is legislation on behalf of one person, and it must pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by the president to take effect.

“I’m obviously somewhat relieved. I have to credit to Senator Menendez, he has had the courage to stand up and introduce the bill. Although this is temporary measure hopefully it’s a pathway to permanent status in the future,” McAllister told the Irish Voice.

As late as last week it was looking all but inevitable that the McAllisters would be deported, and these latest developments are being welcomed as a major turning point.

“I think Irish America need to be congratulated for the overwhelming support that they have given my family and I over the years. We have congressman after congressman saying all the right things, and just last week Senator Schumer stepped into the fray and his input made a real difference to the case,” McAllister added.

Menendez’s bill is the last resort for McAllister, who has exhausted court appeals against deportation, which followed a denial of his request for political asylum. McAllister, who fled Belfast in 1988 after the Red Hand Commando paramilitaries came within inches of killing his family, expressed his hope that Menendez’s assistance will encourage more politicians in his home state of New Jersey to support his campaign to stay in the US.

In October the McAllister family had a powerful political representation made on their behalf when Schumer made an urgent phone call to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Julie Myers strongly urging her not to deport the former paramilitary and his family members on humanitarian and safety grounds.

In his discussion with Myers, Schumer citied the political precedent from the Clinton administration when Irish political prisoners were not sent back to the North because of the threats to their personal safety.

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