After immigration reprieve, Bridie Murphy expected to apply for U.S. citizenship (The Irish Emigrant)

After immigration reprieve, Bridie Murphy expected to apply for U.S. citizenship
ICE lawyers file motion at Boston court to dismiss proceedings
October 5, 2010

Bridie Murphy, the 79-year old Rosmuc, Co. Galway native who was detained at Logan Airport recently and had her green card confiscated, is set to use the reprieve granted to her by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to seek American citizenship. She is said to be “happy and relieved” at the change of heart.

Bridie’s husband, who passed away eight years ago, was a U.S. citizen, as are her four children. One son, Patrick Murphy, is a sergeant in the U.S. Army currently serving in Kuwait. Another, Peter Murphy, has been in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years.

Mrs. Murphy (79), a Boston resident of some sixty years who lives in West Roxbury, was detained upon returning to the U.S. after eleven months spent in her native Connemara. The reason given by authorities was that she did not have a reentry permit, which is normally issued when a legal resident is leaving the US for as many as two years (which Mrs. Murphy never intended to do). She gave up her green card under pressure from border agents during a three-hour ordeal at the airport.

However following a media outcry, Harold Ort of ICE indicated to the Boston Globe that Mrs. Murphy’s case would not be pursued. True to their word, ICE lawyers had filed a motion to dismiss the case before Immigration Judge Leonard Shapiro when Mrs. Murphy’s attorney Chris Lavery arrived at the federal immigration court in Boston on Monday. This means it is now unlikely that she will have to appear in court as scheduled.

Mr. Lavery, who has represented Mrs. Murphy free of charge, indicated that the next logical step will be to take her through the citizenship process.

Mrs. Murphy has been entitled to apply for citizenship since shortly after her 1957 marriage, but was intimidated by the process involved and made do with her permanent legal residency status, which she was granted in 1979.

Speaking to the Boston Globe, Peter Murphy was extremely thankful to Mr. Lavery and Kieran O'Sullivan, an immigration counselor at the Irish Pastoral Centre in Quincy, both of whom have worked tirelessly on Mrs. Murphy’s behalf since the incident occurred.