By Tom Deignan

NICOLA McAllister was the first to hear the voices outside.

It was 5:30 a.m. last Wednesday morning. Nicola had been sleeping with the window open in the living room of her parents’ small town New Jersey home, off of the Passaic River. Nicola’s grandmother was in town from Belfast to celebrate Thanksgiving, so the sleeping arrangements were a bit hectic.

In a mater of minutes, however, the McAllisters’ entire world would be turned upside down. The family of six are no longer planning a pleasant family holiday. 

If federal authorities have their way, in a matter of weeks the McAllisters will be back in Belfast, a city they fled more than a decade ago following years of persecution, death threats and attempts on their life.

“I don’t know why they are treating us this way,” Bernadette McAllister told the Irish Voice on Tuesday.

This rapidly-unfolding case has once again led to fierce Irish American denunciations of key Bush administration officials, such as Attorney General John Ashcroft, Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

Groups such as the national Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish American Unity Conference, not to mention many Republicans and Democrats in Congress, have slammed Ashcroft and DHS for what they see as harsh treatment of Irish nationalists in the U.S.

A few months ago Philadelphia resident and Northern Ireland native John McNicholl was controversially deported back to Ireland. As with the McAllisters, an early morning raid took place, leading McNicholl’s son to blast President Bush as well as DHS.

By all accounts, the McAllister’s ordeal was just as frightening. In the early morning of November 19, agents under the supervision of DHS burst into the McAllisters’ home. They demanded to see Malachy McAllister, Bernadette’s husband. 

For years, Malachy and the rest of the McAllisters fought to secure political asylum, based on the persecution they faced in Belfast. In the meantime they became active members of New Jersey’s Irish community.

Last week, however, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals denied the family asylum status. The McAllisters face deportation within 30 days of the decision, while authorities sought to detain Malachy immediately.

Because of prior convictions in Northern Ireland, where Malachy was an INLA member and served prison time, he is considered a priority case by federal authorities.

When agents stormed the McAllister home, however, Malachy was out of town. He was in Washington D.C. with supporters such as national AOH officers and New Jersey Congressman Donald Payne. He has since been unreachable for comment, and has not spoken to family or his lawyers, Bernadette said.

“The last time something like this happened (my son, Gary) was shot at 26 times,” Bernadette told the Irish Voice, referring to an incident which happened in the family’s native Belfast. The family later fled to Canada, then to the U.S. in 1996.

They assumed they had secured asylum until last week’s decision, which ultimately sent 20 federal agents to the McAllister’s home. The agents attempted to apprehend the first man they saw. It was the McAllister’s downstairs neighbor.

“They pounded on him thinking he was Malachy. Then they came walking right into my living room,” said Bernadette.

Following the Immi-

gration Board’s decision, lawyers swiftly filed an appeal on behalf of the McAllisters with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay of removal pending its decision on this case. Yet supporters say the DHS remains staked out at the McAllister home.

The McAllister case has quickly been picked up by members of Congress, who are slamming federal authorities.

“This is a grave injustice to the McAllister family,” New Jersey Congressman Steve Rothman told the Irish Voice. “They have suffered enough.”

Rothman, in whose district the McAllisters live, is among those who believe the McAllisters have earned asylum because they will face persecution in the North.

“If the McAllisters were forced to return they would clearly be subject of physical violence and death threats at the hands of their political enemies in the Loyalist camp,” said Rothman.

Representatives Peter King, Chris Smith, Eliot Engel and others from the New York/New Jersey area have long supported the McAllisters. Rothman was hopeful that lobbying from Congress might help change DHS’ mind, at least when it comes to immediately arresting and detaining McAllister.

In the coming weeks, the Court of Appeals will come down with a decision which could settle where the McAllisters will live for the rest of their lives. McAllister supporters argue Malachy should at least be allowed to stay with his family until that decision comes down.

For now, lawyers are slamming the tactics DHS is using to apprehend McAllister. They say they have yet to see so much as an arrest warrant for McAllister.

“This is just the sort of abuse of power you’d expect to see in Belfast,” said attorney Eamonn Dornan. 

According to Dornan, DHS does not seems to “care what the Court of Appeals says.” He said this is the most “egregious abuse of power I’ve ever seen as an attorney.”

DHS and federal immigration officials have demanded that Malachy McAllister turn himself into a field office in Newark on December 1. If authorities catch him beforehand, it appears he will be arrested on site and detained in the U.S. at least until the Court of Appeal decision is handed down.

To supporters, this is excessive. “The question is: Is (Malachy) going to be locked up for Thanksgiving? What harm is he to the safety and security of the United States?” asked Dornan, reciting a long list of contributions the hardworking McAllister has made to the New Jersey Irish community.

Dornan would like DHS to wait until the Court of Appeals issues its decision, expected in early- to mid-December. He adds that he has no idea why McAllister is being asked to turn himself in.

“DHS are telling me that my client is a fugitive, but they won’t give me any documentation to prove that,” said Dornan, who could not say whether or not his client planned to turn himself over to authorities.

There were also initial threats to arrest Bernadette for “obstructing justice,” but Dornan seems to believe that threat has subsided.

As for Bernadette, neither she nor the two teenaged children who live with her have been sleeping much since federal authorities came calling. 

“Nicola is still so shaken up,” says Bernadette, adding that her 17-year-old daughter seems to have recalled every minute detail from the federal agents raid. One of the agents hid his badge, according to Bernadette, and motioned for another to do the same.

Bernadette remains angry. When first confronted by federal agents last week, she demanded to see identification, or any sort of paperwork indicating these agents had the authority to haul her husband of 25 years away.

The agents refused. They eventually left. However, suspicious cars have been parked outside of the McAllister home ever since.

While in Belfast, the McAllisters say they lived daily with abuse from the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British troops. They say they lived in fear of the day when they might become the targets of a loyalist gun or bomb attacks. 

The family fled Northern Ireland following a armed Loyalist attack on their home in October 1988, when more than two dozen shots were fired into their home, narrowly missing three of their children and Bernadette’s mother, who was baby-sitting at the time.

The family first arrived in Canada, then later settled in New Jersey, where they began court proceedings in an effort to gain political asylum and eventually American citizenship.

All four of the McAllister children were born in Belfast, and face deportation as well. One child did marry an American citizen. Initial reports suggested he, too, was likely to be deported. However Bernadette told the Irish Voice that lawyers indicated something might be worked out for that son.

In the coming weeks, lawyers will see if they can say the same about the entire McAllister family.

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