Dáil debates
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Topical Issue Debate
Deportation Orders Re-examination
5:40 pm
Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for trying to give me some answers to my question. I also want to acknowledge the Minister, Deputy Naughten, and the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, because both know the situation to which I refer.
I want to bring a particularly heartbreaking case to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, today. It involves an unjust deportation order. A couple have been separated by thousands of miles and a system that has failed them miserably. It is the story of a Ballinasloe woman, Harriet Bruce, and her Brazilian born husband, Kleber Medeiros, who was deported from Ireland on 13 July. I am calling for an urgent review of the matter.
Kleber Medeiros had lived in Ireland since 2011 and was working in a specialist job. I want to be honest with the Minister of State. He was here illegally at that time, but was trying to regularise his situation and had applied for a de facto visa. He fell in love with a local lady, Harriet Bruce. They became engaged last year. However, somebody made an objection to the HSE, which registers marriages, saying it would be a marriage of convenience. It has since been clearly established that this objection had no foundation. The couple went ahead with a religious ceremony and on 10 December 2015 the couple married in St. Michael's Catholic Church in Ballinasloe.
However, in July Kleber received a letter from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service telling him to present himself to make arrangements for his removal from the State. The couple were devastated, but Kleber, who was very anxious to co-operate and was optimistic that the situation would be resolved, duly presented himself and did the right thing but he was deported the next day and remains in Brazil.
On 22 July, a letter to Kleber from the HSE arrived in their home in Ballinasloe. It stated: "Following an investigation of an objection to the above proposed marriage, the superintendent registrar has decided that there is not sufficient evidence to uphold the objection and that no impediment to the marriage exists". We regularly criticise the HSE, but it made the correct decision in this situation. It admitted that the marriage was genuine and a marriage certificate was issued, but unfortunately the letter came too late. The couple's lives have been turned upside down.
The ironic thing is that the marriage certificate has been issued and Kleber needs to sign the form, but he is not permitted to enter the country to do so. Harriet has a business in Ballinasloe, but has left Ireland temporarily to be with Kleber in Brazil. She has to return to look after her business. I call on the Minister of State to review this case as a matter of urgency.
They are real people and should not be reduced to file numbers. I hope they are looked after because their only crime was to fall in love, and now they are being punished. As I said, Harriet has business and property commitments in the State. It is outrageous that, as an Irish citizen, she would have to close her business and move halfway around the world simply because she fell in love and chose to marry a non-EU citizen.
I implore the Minister of State to a review Kleber Medeiros's deportation order, or, at the very least, allow him to return to Ireland to sign the marriage certificate which was justly granted to the couple. It is time to reunite this genuine couple. In fact, it is time to bring Kleber home.
Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Eugene Murphy for raising this issue. I have also read the additional material he sent to me. It is not the policy of the Department of Justice and Equality to comment on the details of decisions reached in individual cases.
However, in general there is a perception that marrying an Irish citizen confers an automatic right to reside in the State, which is not in fact the case. Where a person is illegally present in the State, he or she cannot simply rectify that situation by entering into a marriage with an Irish or other EU citizen or another person who is lawfully resident in the State. In general terms, if the Department was to treat marriages involving persons illegally present in the State in such a fashion, it would have the result that marriages contracted solely for the purposes of confirming lawful immigration status would become an even more attractive proposition with various issues and consequences for the overall integrity of the immigration system.
The Civil Registration (Amendment ) Act 2014 provided additional powers to marriage registrars to refuse to accept the validity of proposed marriages. Most of those additional powers relate to the immigration status of one or both of the parties concerned. These measures were taken primarily to combat the problem of sham marriages. The Tánaiste has a particular concern about sham marriages and she has taken action to combat them in conjunction with the Garda Commissioner who has established Operation Vantage in order to investigate such marriages. Operation Vantage has proven very successful in reducing instances of sham marriages in the State. I should make it very clear at this stage that I am not suggesting at all that the marriage in question comes into that bracket or should be in any way taken to be a sham marriage. The Deputy should note that various immigration decisions which issue from the Department are, in many cases, not predicated on an assumption that a marriage is a sham marriage. They instead focus on the fact that the person concerned is in the State illegally and consideration of the case made by the person concerned as to why they should not be deported is fully taken into account under the relevant statutory framework. In addition, any claimed rights arising under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and under the Irish Constitution are examined, weighed and balanced against the right of the State to maintain a functioning immigration system. The outcome of that process, in many cases, is that a deportation order is then made. Such decisions can be re-examined and subsequently affirmed or revoked. It is open to any person who is subject to a deportation order to submit additional information at any time and to request a reconsideration of their case. I understand in this case that has recently been done. This material will be fully considered and a further decision will issue in due course. If the decision is made to revoke the deportation order then this person, like any other person in a similar case, would then be allowed to return to the State. I accept the genuine nature of the Deputy's concern and he should encourage the couple to please supply any additional information they may have.
5:50 pm
Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. I am glad he clarified that he was not suggesting this was a sham marriage because this was not a sham marriage. This was a man who came to seek a better livelihood in Ireland. He worked in the Ballinsaloe region and he contributed to the local economy. He fell in love with a local girl, they got engaged and then married. The State, through the HSE, has the marriage certificate saying that everything was okay and yet he cannot come back into the State to sign it. I know the Minister of State understands that but to me this is a terrible case. It is heartbreaking. I have spoken to members of the family and it is heartbreaking for them all. They are at their wits' end about the situation. I acknowledge what the Minister of State has said and I appeal to him. I know he is a compassionate individual and I say to him that we should make every effort to rectify what I believe is a wrong so that this couple can get on with their lives in which they were happy, contented, running a business and paying taxes. I firmly believe that a wrong has been done and while I acknowledge all the Minister of State has said we really need to look after this couple to ensure that they get fair treatment.
Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to be clear that I was not referring in any way to a specific case but there are issues around the broader area, of which we are all aware. I reiterate that a person who does not have a right or entitlement to be in the State does not generate such a right by going through a ceremony of marriage. I note what the Deputy has said and I assure him that all relevant issues put forward by the person concerned, or on his behalf, will be fully considered by the Department of Justice and Equality officials before a decision is made on whether to revoke or reaffirm the deportation order. I will also make sure to pass on the note the Deputy has presented here to the Department, but the Deputy may already have done that. I am sure the Deputy will accept that we cannot prejudge the outcome of that process. I thank him particularly for the empathy he has shown to this couple.