During my time living in Derry the first couple of years, I decided that I wanted to go visit the family back in New York every Christmas. 1994 was my first trip to New York since I had left. At Heathrow I was stopped through immigrations and they were asking me what I have been doing all that time while living in Ireland. I told them I was in school. I had no idea that I was living there illegal. I wondered about myself how I could be living there illegal if I have relatives in Derry.
The next couple of years I was continously being stopped by the same security at immigrations. I could not figure it out why I was kept being stopped through immigrations. Security then told me what was wrong. They mentioned if I wanted to stay in Ireland, that I would have to go through the passport offices in Belfast and claim a British Passport. It appeared that I had been using my American passport whenever I was leaving Ireland. This what was the causing me to being stopped.
So I had gotten a British passport. To this day my mother still continues telling me that I was to give up my American citizenship. Well if that was the case then why did the security take my American passport away from me. This is what I don't understand.
