Genealogist: Lou Dobbs’ Great-Grandfather Was Illegal Immigrant

An amateur genealogist told a hastily assembled Salt Lake City press conference that Lou Dobbs’ paternal great-grandfather, Richard Preston Dobbs, emigrated illegally from Ireland to the United States in 1882.

Fred Newman, an actuary who “dabbles” in genealogy, presented census reports, police records, a passenger ship manifest, and church birth records from County Kildare, Ireland, indicating that Dobbs “slipped illegally into the United States, primarily for economic reasons.”

Employment opportunities in late 19th-century Ireland, even for highly educated individuals like Richard Preston Dobbs, were severely limited. R.P. Dobbs had worked as a dockworker, dishwasher, and sheep shearer in County Monaghan in what is now Northern Ireland. Dissatisfied with his economic future, R.P. Dobbs caught a tramp steamer heading for Mexico and jumped ship in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he disembarked “without proper documentation,” according to genealogist Newman.

“At the time,” Newman said, “restrictions on illegal immigrants, today often called ‘undocumented’ immigrants, found it relatively easy to slip through the cracks, enter society, and find work. According to my research, Richard Preston Dobbs immediately found a job as a ranch hand on a large blueberry farm outside Nacogdoches, Texas. Within five years, he was a field boss on the farm, and two years later, he married a daughter of the owner of the farm.”

Newman said that R.D. Dobbs sent money back to his family in Ireland, paid taxes, took part in community affairs including barn raisings, the local militia, and raising money to build a new schoolhouse.

When reached for comment, CNN correspondent Lou Dobbs said, “My position on illegal immigration is well-known, but in the case of personal relatives, I am willing to make an occasional exception.”