A PROPOSAL in the Immigration, Residency and Protection Bill 2010 to deport people without any prior notice would leave extremely vulnerable people open to abuse, an NGO has claimed.
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) said the newly published Bill could deny access to justice to undocumented workers or those in a situation of forced labour.
Siobhán O’Donoghue, its director, said giving the Minister for Justice the power to deport people without any notice could prevent a migrant who had been exploited taking their employer to court to claim unpaid wages.
She said putting the migrant on a plane without any access to justice would make a mockery of all other efforts by the State to protect workers and hold rogue employers to account. She said the current system should be maintained. It gives people 15 days to present their case to the Minister before they can be deported.
Ms O’Donoghue accused the Government of hypocrisy for promoting a humanitarian response for the 30,000 undocumented Irish in the US when it is not promoting such a process at home.
She claims the Bill fails to recognise the “ad hoc immigration system implemented over the past few decades”, which has led to many people who entered the State legally becoming undocumented, and “inappropriately asks employers, health workers and service providers to become immigration law enforcement agents”.