Homeland Security to Deport DeSmet Priest

"Committed to keeping America for Americans" -- Dr. Charles Lyonel Gonyo, Republican Candidate for Senate

Local media man Matt Hendrickson draws my attention to this story of Homeland Security and immigration policy gone haywire: Father Cathal Gallagher of DeSmet, a Catholic priest and Irish citizen who has served three churches in Kingsbury County for over ten years, faces deportation. The Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls put in an application for permanent residency for the good father back in 2001. The immigration branch of Homeland Security actually approved the application two years later, but since then some "technical error" has taken place, and Uncle Sam is giving Father Gallagher the boot.

Not only can't the Bush Administration catch Osama bin Laden, they can't even keep the paperwork straight on a Catholic priest doing the Lord's work in South Dakota. Good grief.

Father Gallagher has the support of his parishioners: they've set up a website -- HelpFather.com -- that tells his story. After 23 years of service in Japan (the feds must think he became an operative for Aum Shinrikyo), Father Gallagher came to the windy prairies at the personal request of Bishop Carlson, and what was supposed to be just a brief stay turned into a decade of deeply appreciated service.

Now Father Gallagher suffers from no entitlement complex. He knows rules are rules. As he tells KSFY:

I have no right to live in this country. It's your country. I depend on your graciousness and goodness of your government to allow me to live in this country [quoted by Caitlin Haedicke, "DeSmet Catholic Priest Forced to Leave U.S.," KSFY.com, 2008.05.27].

Good Catholics all, Father Gallagher's parishioners aren't going to sit around and wait for grace from the bureaucracy; they're going to save Father Gallagher by works. Says Matt H. at KJAM:

It's funny. My aunt Patty and her family go to St. Thomas and when Father Gallagher said what was happening he said it was "God's Will." Before he left the station today, I grabbed his hand and said, "Father, God's will is also having friends and people who are willing to fight for you" [Matt Hendrickson, personal e-mail, 2008.05.27].

Father Gallagher's flock are praying and tying green ribbons around the trees in DeSmet. They're also collecting signatures online (yes, go sign now), calling our elected officials, and trying to get the word out to as many people as possible about our government's bungling.

12 million people working here illegally for unpatriotic businesses who don't want to pay full wages, and our government concentrates on deporting an Irish Catholic priest? This is big government (brought to you by the Bush Republicans) at its worst.

p.s.: I lay even odds that Bob Ellis posts something about Father Gallagher's deportation as evidence of the ongoing war on Christianity.