Preconsidered Res. No.1202 Title Resolution calling upon the United States Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to suspend deportation proceedings and grant Malachy and Bernadette McAllister and their four children permanent asylum in the United States. Body By The Speaker (Council Member Miller) and Council Members Baez, Gioia, Koppell, Nelson, Sanders, Stewart, Weprin and Quinn Whereas, Malachy McAllister, along with his family, is being threatened with deportation to Northern Ireland, where their lives would be in grave danger; and Whereas, The McAllister family fled Northern Ireland following a loyalist paramilitary attack on their home in October 1988. Twenty-five shots were fired into their home, narrowly missing three of their children and Mrs. McAllister's mother, who was babysitting at the time; and Whereas, Other members of the McAllisters' family continue to be targets of politically motivated violence, such as Theresa Clinton, a relative of Bernadette McAllister, who was shot dead in her living room in Belfast; and Whereas, Since their emigration to America, the McAllisters have proved themselves to be a hard-working family eager to contribute to their adopted country, and all have led exemplary lives in the United States; and Whereas, The McAllister family qualifies for asylum under United States law (Title 8 USC, Section 1158) both because they were persecuted when they lived in Northern Ireland and because they have a well-founded fear of persecution should they be returned to that country; and Whereas, The removal orders against the McAllisters should be suspended in the same way that they have been halted in the cases of so-called "deportees" following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement; and Whereas, Following the signing of this historic agreement, which the United States helped to negotiate, political prisoners in Ireland were freed and their political status was implicitly recognized; the U.S. government also suspended deportation for a number of Irish nationals charged with offenses in Northern Ireland arising out of that conflict; and Whereas, However, several cases continue to be prosecuted by the U.S. Government, and Irish nationals have either been deported or are in imminent danger of being deported; and Whereas, The New York City Council has previously expressed support for other Irish and Irish-American families facing deportation to Northern Ireland; and Whereas, Our immigration legislation must be amended to cure this anomaly and must be done so immediately before any of these American families suffer more harm; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the United States Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to suspend deportation proceedings and grant Malachy and Bernadette McAllister and their four children permanent asylum in the United States. WA LS# D-Res. 12/10/03 -3 -