Murphy’s plea to Justice Minister
Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon/Galway Deputy Eugene Murphy has called on the Minister for Justice to intervene to get Ballinasloe woman, Harriett Bruce, her husband back after the Brazilian man – Kleber Silva Medeiros ¬– was deported despite the fact that their marriage was recognised by the HSE as genuine.
Deputy Murphy said the couple have been separated by thousands of miles and a system which has failed them miserably.
According to Deputy Murphy: “Kleber Medeiros came to Ireland to work and study in 2011 but unfortunately in March 2012, his English college closed down and he lost his student visa. He continued working and was paying taxes all along. He went to the Garda National Immigration Bureau in Galway and was up front all along as he was trying to sort out his visa.”
Deputy Murphy says problems arose shortly after the Brazilian man got engaged to Ms. Bruce.
“When they got engaged however, someone objected to the HSE – which registers marriages – saying it would be a ‘marriage of convenience.’ However, despite this objection of a malicious nature, the couple went ahead on 10th of December 2015 and got married.
“In July, Kleber received a letter from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service telling him to present himself to make arrangements for his removal from the State.
“The couple were devastated, but Kleber was anxious to co-operate and he was optimistic that the situation would be resolved so he duly presented himself. He was deported the next day, and remains in Brazil.”
On July 22nd, a letter addressed to Kleber from the HSE arrived at their home in Ballinasloe, saying: “Following an investigation of an objection to the above proposed marriage…the Superintendent Registrar has decided that there is not sufficient evidence to uphold the objection…and no impediment to the marriage exists.”
Deputy Murphy: “So the HSE has admitted that the marriage is genuine and the marriage cert was issued but this letter unfortunately came too late and the couple’s lives have been turned upside down. The ironic thing is that the marriage licence has now been issued and Kleber needs to sign this form but he is not permitted into the country to do so!
“These are real people – they are not to be reduced to file numbers – they are real people whose only crime was to fall in love…Harriet has business and property commitments in this State and it is outrageous that as an Irish citizen she would have to close her business and move halfway around the world simply because she fell in love and chose to marry a Non EU citizen.”
Deputy Murphy called on the Justice Minister to
Review Kleber Medeiros’s deportation order or at the very least allow him to return to Ireland to sign the marriage certificate, which “was justly granted to the couple.”
