The Professional Resisters (ProRes) leadership selected an interesting poster child in their fight against this administration's enforcement of U.S. laws: Seamus Colleton, an Irishman who entered under a visa waiver and overstayed...by somewhere close to two decades. This is a long time by any measure but when you consider the ProRes believe the statute of limitations on immigration offenses is somewhere between five, ten, maybe fifteen...minutes, well twenty years is virtual infinity. Hell, there are carpetbaggers here in daVille who think that after five years they're a native.
The ProRes story on Colleton is simple: an immigrant seeking a better life, a chance at the American dream. He came here, settling in Boston, taking work as a plasterer. He got married and has two fur-babies. Then, down came ICE, and he is now detained thousands of miles from "home" (pick one) while his distraught pups sit at the door awaiting his return.
Crocodile tears, right? Everything the ProRes say is correct. But then someone exhumed Paul Harvey. The rest of the story.
Did Colleton come to the U.S. for a better life? Absolutely, but the bar was set low. Why you ask? Glad you asked. That's because there was a bench warrant out for his arrest because he failed to show up in court to face drug charges. He had been apprehended with a sufficiently large quantity of drugs that he was all but certain to spend many years in an Irish prison. Does ICE have him detained far away from Boston? Yes. Yes they do, but only after they offered him the choice to be deported or detained. He chose to be detained. Here's where the dogs come into play. Tugs at the heart strings, doesn't it? You can almost hear Sarah McLachlan, can't you? You see, Colleton was fleeing more than just unpleasantries with the Irish authorities, he left behind a young woman, the mother of his 18 month old twin daughters. Nearly two decades of no contact whilst he pursued his dreams in America. No birthday cards. No Christmas Skype calls. And absolutely no child support. It wasn't until he was detained that he reached out and no one has a plausible explanation. His daughters, now nearly twenty years old, want him to return to Ireland. To face drug charges. They're pissed.
If you step back, get a broader view of recent ProRes actions something interesting appears. They've made a pivot to white. It seems the casting call for street protesters was "middle-aged (or older) white women, angry preferred." What would Marshall McLuhan say? Since José Antonio Ibarra didn't work out as their poster child for the ICE is Bad campaign, maybe they shifted towards a whiter shade of pale. And where better than Ireland to find a pale-face? Bonus points for showing that ICE is actually going after an unlawful resident from Europe. Or is it?
And the moral to this story? When someone with a political agenda, or worse yet, a political business, tells you a story, be very cautious about what you believe. Think about that if you show up a Vintage Pizzeria tomorrow.
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