An American father-of-three planning to surprise his children for a birthday was left heartbroken after being arrested and deported from the UK.
Ryan Volrath, of Wisconsin, had planned the trip to see his children but was arrested on Sunday evening at Dublin Airport after being asked for the purpose of his trip.
Mr Volrath married the mother of his children, Kylie, from Northern Ireland 10 years ago and she gave birth to their first two children in the US.
His wife has since moved back to her home town of Omagh, where she gave birth to their third child, but Mr Volrath has been forced to stay working in the US due to visa concerns.
The father currently does not meet the financial threshold to apply for UK residency and the only time he spends with his family is during short trips to Northern Ireland.
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Mr Volrath had planned a 10-day visit to see his children and had a flight back to the US booked – making his intention to return home clear.
But the family was left devastated after he ended up spending the night in a cell at Clontarf Garda station in Dublin, before being sent home early the next morning.
I only wanted to visit my family for 10 days, then return to the US where I am employed, Mr Volrath said.
It was a surprise for my three children on my birthday and I was whisked away without the chance to see them.
Wife Kylie said the family are devastated not to have their father home to visit.
Its overwhelming, Im feeling a bunch of emotions at once, she said.
While all this is going on, I still have to tend to kids and deal with and figure it out all by myself.
Its a challenge but one we are prepared to fight.
She added: The boys have no idea any of this is happening.
We got to see each other briefly before they took him back to the airport, which was good, but Ryan is absolutely heartbroken.
Detailed submissions have been lodged by Phoenix Law on behalf of Mr Volrath seeking to challenge the validity of his detention.
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Solicitors representing Mr Volrath said they believe that the so-called hostile environment immigration stance being implemented by the UK and current Brexit tensions are the reasons for the deportation.
Sinead Marmion, solicitor, said: It is hard to depart from the theory that such unwarranted and unreasonable removals are closely tied with the UKs pending exit from the European Union, with the Irish authorities now operating a much more rigid and aggressive regime regarding entry to the North of Ireland, via Dublin Airport.
The UKs pervasive hostile environment policy is being mirrored in the Irish state.
