February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
But Colm Gallagher, who is from Ballybofey, will have a chance of returning someday to the country he wants to call home.
Gallagher appeared before a Chicago immigration judge last week and agreed to accept “voluntary departure.” But the judge in the case did not slap a 10-year ban from the U.S. on Gallagher, who was arrested early on a May morning earlier this year by three INS agents.
Gallagher said that after the hearing he was relieved at the judge’s decision.
“It was fabulous, it couldn’t have gone better there was no ban,” he said. “I’m blessed.”
A possible factor in the judge’s relative leniency was the fact that Gallagher, who’s 36, was already making an effort to secure legal status at the time of his arrest. Further, he has a legitimate route to green card and, ultimately, citizenship through his family.
Gallagher’s grandfather was an American citizen who served in the U.S. Navy.
His mother is seeking U.S. citizenship on this basis and once that is attained, Gallagher can move to secure a green card.
Last Thursday’s hearing was in sharp contrast to Gallagher’s first appearance in the same court. On that occasion he appeared in an orange prison suit, shackled and handcuffed after being driven under guard from the Wisconsin prison where he had spent six weeks confined with a general prison population.