Keith Byrne hoping for extension to temporary halt of deportation
Keith Byrne, the Irish man living in the US who was arrested for immigration offences in July and threatened with deportation, has said he's hoping for an extension to his temporary release.
The native of Fermoy Co Cork, was on his way to work in Philadelphia last month when he was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
After being detained for more than a week, he was temporarily released from the custody of ICE on July 25 to seek a judicial review of his case. The temporary release was for 30 days, and there are now ten days remaining under that order.
"My lawyer is doing everything he can - there is a deportation order that we have to appeal, and there is also another appeal that we are in the process of making,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
"He's confident that there'll be success. He's also hoping that we get an extension from ICE on the 30 days that they had already given us."
Mr Byrne explained that so far he has been allowed to stay with his family while he fights to be allowed to stay in the US.
"It is a long process. There are a couple of things we need to do. It's not going to be over in 30 days. There's a long battle ahead.
"I've never been to jail in my life. I've never been away from my family for two weeks, in limbo.
"That's what the scary thing was - we were in limbo, and nobody knew what was happening."
