MORE than 32,000 people have now signed a petition to prevent the ‘imminent’ deportation of one of its students to China.

Eric Zhi Ying Xue, nine, was born here but is not an Irish citizen and has never been out of Ireland.

St. Cronan’s School in Bray started a petition two days ago to revoke the deportation order made for Eric and his mother, and it has already been signed by over 32,000 people.

Eric’s mother Leena Mei Mei Xue arrived in Ireland illegally 12 years ago, aged nineteen.

Her attempts to regularise her residency failed, and a deportation order was served against her in 2015. Her last appeal was rejected in June of this year.

Principal of St Cronan’s, Maeve Tierney, told RTE News that this was a moral issue and that it would be wrong to “pluck” Eric out of his community.

She described Eric as “an extremely able boy” who has his “entire network of friends here”.

Leena presented her son’s birth certificate to immigration authorities was she was told they would be preparing travel documents so that they could be deported back to China.

A referendum on the 27th Amendment in 2004 abolished the constitutional right of Irish citizenship to children who were born in Ireland to foreign national parents.

The Wicklow school said that local TD Health Minister Simon Harris has been in contact with them and is assisting them in their efforts.

Yesterday, Irish goalkeeping star Darren Randolph pledged his support to the young Chinese boy.

Randolph posted the petition on Twitter, saying: “Please sign this petition to stop the deportation of Eric, he is a pupil of @stcronans in Bray. Where I am a past pupil of. Please sign & share!”

The change.org link was also published on the school’s Facebook page.

The Department of Justice said it did not comment on individual cases.