The family of a young Ballyshannon man held in a U.S. jail has appealed to the American authorities not to keep him behind bars any longer.
Soldier’s son Brian Gethins was arrested 10 days ago while on his way by bus to visit his Irish-American girlfriend Shannon Reynolds.
The 22-year-old is being held as an illegal immigrant in Cumberland County Jail, Portland, Maine.
His parents Jimmy and Majella Gethins, of Finner, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, who fear he may be kept behind bars for three months, appealed to the U.S. authorities to send him home straightaway.
Jimmy, a fitter at Finner Army Camp, said: “Brian will pay the fare or we will pay it for him, no problem. If he has to be deported we just don’t understand why it can’t be done straight away. Why does he have to be kept imprisoned for so long before processing his case?”
Carpenter Brian, a senior gaelic football star with his local GAA club Aodh Ruadh, visited Boston for three months. He met and fell in love with 27-year-old Shannon and stayed several months beyond the permitted 90-day limit.
A routine immigration check of passengers on the bus bringing him on a visit to Shannon in Maine led to his arrest when he couldn’t produce a green card.
The only communication his parents have had with him since then is through Shannon who has been allowed visit him in jail.
His dad said: “Being locked up will do Brian no good whatever. He has never been in trouble with the law. He doesn’t even have a parking ticket.”
Jimmy added: “Shannon is terribly upset at what’s happened. She has a six-hour journey to visit Brian in jail.”
Bundoran town councillor Michael McMahon, a campaigner with the Legalise the Irish organisation, has taken up the case of Brian, second-eldest in a family of five.
Mr McMahon called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other politicians to intervene.
The Irish consulate in Boston has made representations to the U.S. authorities.