New George Gibney Papers: U.S. Government Documents Curious Decision Not to Remove Former Irish Olympic Swim Coach Despite Numerous Sexual Abuse Allegations

by Irvin Muchnick

The terms of last week’s settlement of the Freedom of Information Act case Muchnick v. Department of Homeland Security included the United States government’s release of information confirming Judge Charles R. Breyer’s two-part revelation in October 2016: that George Gibney was denied American citizenship after his application concealed his 27-count sex-crimes indictment in his native country, but that the government also determined, nonetheless, that this was not grounds for removing the disgraced former Irish Olympic swim coach from the U.S.

This documentation is viewable at http://muchnick.net/gibneynoremove.pdf. It consists of a three-page document from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and a one-page document from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The USCIS document is an almost completely redacted “DECISION ON APPLICATION FOR NATURALIZATION,” dated December 2, 2010, and signed by Mary Iglesias, director of the Orlando, Florida, field office. The unredacted portion states, “Pursuant to an investigation and examination of your application it is determined that you are ineligible for naturalization.” Farther down, the document notes that Gibney had been interviewed under oath regarding his application.

The ICE document is from more than four months earlier, on July 20, 2010. The unredacted portion states, “This case involves GIBNEY, who applied for naturalization; [REDACTION] no criminal convictions which would render him removable from the U.S. [REDACTION] this referral does not meet the current case acceptance criteria [REDACTION] is being returned [REDACTION] for action deemed appropriate.”

Confirmed therein is the sequence that puzzled Judge Breyer and should puzzle all Americans. Here’s the way Breyer put it:

“[W]hat is missing in all of this is, how is a person permitted to remain in the United States when, in fact, the circumstances of the Ireland experience or what occurred in Ireland are publicly known, that’s number one. And number two, if, and I would use the word ‘if,’ he gave false answers in connection with an application, how is it that that somehow doesn’t bring into question the term of his initial visa permit or his initial visa.”

…

“[Hypothetically] I’m the applicant, I filled out a form, and perhaps, theoretically, I’m not honest in the form that I fill out for further relief; that is, to be a citizen. And so it’s denied. But my question would be, by virtue of that activity, does that then go – didn’t – did somebody in the Department of Homeland Security say, Well, you know this person lied to us today, or whenever that application, I think we have to go back and question the legitimacy of allowing that person to remain in the United States.[…] There’s nothing that [the government] submitted to me that indicates any reasons why he’s allowed in the United States, nor any investigation, that I can see, of going back and looking at the original application or the continuation of the visa.”

To review again:

• In 2010 a campaign spearheaded by Evin Daly’s One Child International in Florida exposed Gibney’s residency in that state and the details of his Irish past. The information was submitted to the American government.
• Gibney, who had been residing in the U.S. since 1994, then applied for citizenship.
• ICE produced a decision that Gibney could not be removed from the U.S. because he had never been convicted of a crime.
• Months later, with no apparent reference to the overall controversy, USCIS simply denied Gibney ncitizenship.

Does this double-clutch action by the American immigration bureaucracy add up to wise enforcement of our borders and protection of the homeland from the entry and ongoing presence of undesirables?

That is a question for the U.S. Congress to explore. I hope the legislators most closely associated with fighting sexual assault in general and sexual misconduct by youth sports coaches in particular heed the call of their sister Irish legislator, Maureen O’Sullivan, and take a closer look at the George Gibney immigration scenario.

The best candidates for this task include Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, principal author of current proposed legislation aimed at compelling U.S. Olympic Committee national sport governing bodies to report sexual abuse allegations to police; and Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California, who likewise has made youth athlete safety a focus, and who helped inspire the current #MeToo campaign of testimony about abuse in all walks of life.

NEXT AT CONCUSSION INC.: More of the new George Gibney papers

Chronological links to our series, which began January 27, 2015, under the headline “Why Is George Gibney – No. 1 At-Large Pedophile in Global Sports – Living in Florida? And Who Sponsored His Green Card?”: https://concussioninc.net/?p=10942