Man who wrongly had deportation order becomes citizen

Felipe Silvestre Santos De Morais, a Brazilian man who had a deportation order wrongly linked to his identity, has officially become an Irish citizen. The father of three, who has been living and working lawfully in Ireland as a software engineer since 2016, discovered the error after receiving a letter revoking a deportation order. A Freedom of Information request revealed that his records had been incorrectly merged with those of another individual, leading to a deportation order being processed under his identity.

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I could see in my records that there was a form and it said, 'other names', and there was a different name, which matched with the name on the deportation order.

Minister of State for Migration Colm Brophy attended the ceremony in Killarney, where approximately 4,600 people from over 139 countries were granted Irish citizenship. Brophy emphasized that Irish citizenship entails both freedom and responsibility, including the freedom to participate fully in society and the responsibility to respect the rule of law and contribute to the common good.

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Then I realised that my identity was connected to another person in Ireland who was under a deportation order.

Santos De Morais received formal acknowledgment of the error and confirmation of his corrected records from the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan in April. The citizenship ceremony marks a significant milestone for him and thousands of others, who undertake to uphold the laws and democratic values of the state.

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Irish citizenship is about freedom - freedom to participate fully in society, to vote, to shape the future of your community, to raise your family with security and belonging.