Anti-immigrant candidate for governor of Massachusetts, Kerry Healy, came to the Irish Games in Canton, MA on Sunday.
The games were attended by several thousand supporters of Irish Football (GAA), many of whom were undocumented.
An Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform Volunteer asked Healy to pose for a photograph with a Legalize the Irish t-shirt, which she did.
She received a very hostile reception from the crowd, with several Republican business owners from Boston saying that they would not be able to support her because of her stance on immigration.
It was pointed out to her by many people that she was actively calling for the criminalization of many of the people both attending and playing the games, a contradiction which she was unable to reconcile (despite wearing the t-shirt!).
Healy was booed arriving and departing the games.
In addition, the New York hurling team was actually supposed to play the game in Ireland but was unable to travel because the majority of the team are undocumented.
The games were attended by several thousand supporters of Irish Football (GAA), many of whom were undocumented.
An Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform Volunteer asked Healy to pose for a photograph with a Legalize the Irish t-shirt, which she did.
She received a very hostile reception from the crowd, with several Republican business owners from Boston saying that they would not be able to support her because of her stance on immigration.
It was pointed out to her by many people that she was actively calling for the criminalization of many of the people both attending and playing the games, a contradiction which she was unable to reconcile (despite wearing the t-shirt!).
Healy was booed arriving and departing the games.
In addition, the New York hurling team was actually supposed to play the game in Ireland but was unable to travel because the majority of the team are undocumented.
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The Boston Globe Reported:
Healey gets an earful
Healey took in more than the hurling when she appeared at the Irish Sports Championships in Canton last weekend. She also got several earsful from immigration advocates eager to share their anger over the hard line she has taken against illegal immigrants on the campaign trail.
Some of the players in the sporting events she had gone to see were themselves illegal immigrants. The championship face-off between the teams from County Antrim and New York City was being held outside Ireland for the first time partly because some members of the New York team could not leave the United States and gain re-entry, said Ciaran Staunton , vice president of the New York-based Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, formed to win paths to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
"There were a number of people confronting her," said Staunton , who was one of the people confronting her.
He said some people were booing Healey at the event, and that others, including "one of the ladies serving tea," gave Healey a hard time.
Staunton shook Healey's hand and told her he was upset that "she wants to classify all the Irish undocumented as criminals," he said. He said Healey told him she was in favor of more visas for Irish immigrants, and that he told her she was being "hypocritical, and that many Irish- Americans will have to bypass you on the ballot for this."
At one point, some mischievous soul handed Healey an Irish Lobby for Immigration T-shirt. "Legalize the Irish!" it blared.
Healey, accustomed to Irish humor from her days at Trinity College in Dublin smiled gamely as she held the T-shirt.
A picture was snapped, then this incongruous image was zapped hither and yon.
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