Two Irish Caught by Immigration

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Two Irish Caught by Immigration

October 4, 2007

By Aril Drew

TWO Monaghan men was picked up on Sunday, September 30 by the U.S. Border Patrol while getting off a train in Hicksville, upstate New York.

Francis Smyth, or Freddy to his friends, 35, was on his way home from a weekend in Harrisville, New York where he attended the Black River Rally. Smyth, who is from Scotstown, Co. Monaghan, and his friend Paul Treanor, also from Monaghan, missed their drive home to New York.

The pair opted for the only other alternative — they took an Amtrak train at Syracuse. They planned to go to New York, where both Smyth and Treanor live, but they boarded the wrong train and found themselves heading north towards Canada.

Realizing their mistake, they got out at the next stop, which was 20 minutes from the Canadian border.

U.S. Border Patrol agents, who regularly do random checks on Amtrak trains apprehended the pair who were immediately taken into custody and brought to a detention center near the Canadian border.

On Monday, Smyth and Treanor were transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Dannemora, New York.

The pair, who each have their own cell, are currently imprisoned with vicious criminals like Vincent Johnson, the serial killer known as “Brooklyn Strangler,” who is serving life sentence for the murders of five prostitutes and Joel Rifkin, referred to as “Joel the Ripper” who, after a five year killing spree, murdered 18 women.

The Irish Consulate in New York was in touch with Smyth and Treanor on Monday while the friends await news of a deportation hearing sometime this week.

Smyth, a carpenter by trade, called his friend Mike Carpenter on Sunday, after he was arrested to tell him what had happened.

“I got a call from Fred on Sunday and he just said to pack up his stuff, that he had been arrested,” said Carpenter.

“I knew that he couldn’t say much because there was an officer with him but I understood what he meant,” said Carpenter, who described his friend as “the kind of lad who would do anything for anyone.”

Smyth’s brother-in-law Noel Murphy, in Ireland said that they were devastated to find out what happened.

“Freddy was so happy in New York. We are just shocked that this happened him. We don’t really know much of what’s going on over there. We are just waiting to hear what will happen to him now,” Murphy said.

Smyth, who has been living in New York for seven years, is a committed member of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. He has attended rallies and met with politicians both in New York and Washington in an effort to support comprehensive immigration reform.

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