A BELFAST republican at the centre of a long-running campaign to allow him to remain in the US has been deported.
Malachy McAllister was put on a flight back to his home country yesterday.
It is understood he handed himself over to officials from the US Department of Homeland Security in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
Earlier Mr McAllister, along with a large crowd of family, friends and supporter,s held a short march to the government building where he handed himself over to authorities.
It is understood a piper led the procession and a priest was also present.
The Belfast man has been granted multiple stays of removal from the US.
His most recent reprieve had allowed him to stay in the US until June 5.
A spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last night said: “Malachy McAllister, an Irish national, was removed from the United States on June 10, pursuant to a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge in 2000.”
The Belfast man's doctors had argued that injuries sustained after he was struck by a car last week, including a broken rib and collarbone, could be exacerbated by travel.
Campaigners say he was due to be deported from the US by air ambulance.
The lower Ormeau Road man was sentenced to seven years for his part in an INLA attack on an RUC man in Belfast in 1981. He was releaesed in 1985.
In 1988 he emigrated with his family to Canada after his home was raked with gunfire in a loyalist attack.
After being denied asylum in Canada McAllister, his wife Bernadette and four children moved to the US in 1996.
His wife died in the US in 2004.
Since moving to the states he has faced an almost constant battle to remain in the US.
Last week 15 congressmen and senators signed a letter sent to President Trump asking him to intervene in the case.
He also received high profile backing from Irish Americans including congressman and ex chair of the House Homeland Security Committee Peter King.
Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has also offered her support, while retired Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, a sister of US president Donald Trump, has previously backed the McAllister family.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has also made representations on his behalf in the past.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America has also rallied behind the Belfast man, who is a member of the organisation.
New Jersey Democratic senator Bob Menendez was critical of the decision to deport Mr McAllister.
"Today is a sad day for the McAllister family and New Jersey's Irish community,” he said .
“Deporting a community leader who poses no national security or public safety threat is not only a clear injustice, but also contrary to our nation’s values.”
