Matthew Morrison, a 69-year-old Irish immigrant and former Irish Republican Army member, has left the United States after decades of living under the threat of deportation. Citing fear of detention and declining health, Morrison boarded a one-way flight to Ireland on July 21, ending a decades-long immigration battle rooted in his IRA past.
Morrison originally fled Northern Ireland in 1985, marrying an American and raising a family in St. Louis. He was among six “deportees” whose removal was halted by the Clinton administration in 2000 to support the Northern Ireland peace process. However, their immigration status remained temporary and precarious.
Under the Trump administration, deportation pressures intensified. Morrison, suffering from strokes and fearing detention by ICE, chose to leave rather than risk dying in custody. “There is nothing to stop them from deporting me to Ecuador, South Sudan, or whatever,” he said.
Though Morrison contributed decades of service as a nurse and mental health presenter, his past IRA conviction disqualified him from citizenship. His self-deportation follows the death of another deportee, Noel Gaynor, and signals deepening fear among vulnerable immigrants.
“I came here as an immigrant and I am leaving as an immigrant,” Morrison said. “The whole thing is a crazy, stressful situation.”
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