The border is in South Dakota for Irish priest with immigration woes

Published: 2008-05-30

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Father Cathal Gallagher is bringing his parishioners in rural South Dakota an unwelcome lesson in the fine details of U.S. immigration law as they try to help him fight his pending deportation. Father Gallagher, 58, a Columban missionary, went to the state a decade ago at the invitation of Bishop Robert J. Carlson, then-head of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D. The Irish priest currently is pastor of parishes in three prairie towns, the largest of which is St. Thomas Aquinas in DeSmet, population just over 1,000. After spending 22 years working in Japan, Father Gallagher was surprised by how taken he was with South Dakota, he told Catholic News Service in a May 29 phone interview. "I liked this place, the prairies, the people," he said, and as soon as he was eligible, he applied for permanent U.S. residency. He came as close as being told five years ago that his "green card" was approved and would arrive within two weeks, only to learn much later that his application was actually denied. Now, unless the Department of Homeland Security office of Citizenship and Immigration Services can be persuaded to reverse its denial of his application, Father Gallagher will have to head back to Ireland by July 1.

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