Keith Byrne: Image GoFundMe“It’s unfair that something so small should have an impact.”
An Irishman arrested by federal agents had been taking steps to regularise his residency status, his wife says.
Father-of three Keith Byrne is being held at a county jail in Pennysylvania after being arrested last week by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
It comes as independent Senator Billy Lawless has warned Irish people living in the US without the correct papers to "stay low and stay vigilant".
Keran Byrne, wife of Fermoy man Keith Byrne, who was arrested on his way to work on Wednesday morning in Philadelphia, told Newstalk Breakfast that her husband had gone through all the correct legal channels to adjust his status.
“He was never undocumented. He went through all the channels. He started the process in 2010 to adjust his status. The entire time he’s been here he has taken legal steps. He was legally allowed to stay here.”
She said that he had been fined twice for possession of “a very small amount” of marijuana in Ireland in his early 20s. “Those little incidents have followed him here and destroyed his bid to become a citizen.
“It’s unfair that something so small should have an impact.”
