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THIS WEEK, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, has been in Washington, DC. He’s met with congressional leaders and advocates for immigration reform in the interests of regularising the situation of 50,000 Irish citizens in the US without legal status and creating a pathway to living and working there for future generations of Irish men and women. A picture of the Tánaiste walking the famed corridors of Capitol Hill with the Republican congressional leader and 2012 vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, even appeared on Twitter.
The picture, as the old maxim goes, says a thousand words. It is further proof positive of the extraordinary access that this small and strategically unimportant country enjoys in the US.
Indeed, Congressman Ryan, whose positions on economic and social issues place him firmly on his party’s right wing, was moved by the persistent entreaties of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. He is now a firm supporter of immigration reform legislation – passed by the US Senate and stalled in the US House of Representatives – which would benefit the undocumented Irish. Congressman Ryan, who is proud of his Kilkenny ancestry, has affirmed that the efforts of Irish people based in the US, such as Billy Lawless and Ciaran Staunton, and Irish politicians, like Senator Mark Daly, played a significant part in persuading him.
What’s so disappointing to next consider are the assertions made by some on both sides of the Atlantic about the undocumented Irish. In the past, these commentators have opined both that the undocumented are not worthy of the assistance of the Irish Government or of Irish-American politicians and that a “special deal” benefiting solely the Irish is an impossibility because of the changing demographics in the US and the allegedly declining power of Irish America.
Most recently, Colm Quinn, an Irishman living in Washington, DC, wrote in an Irish Times opinion piece earlier this month that what the Tánaiste has been doing this week and similar exercises “are at best missed opportunities and at worst a waste of time”. This and other pronouncements in Quinn’s piece angered me and many others I know on both sides of the Atlantic. To us, it’s profoundly sad that so many Irish people, whose forebears helped make America what it is, now live in limbo, in fear and in the shadows.
How is it a missed opportunity or a waste of time to press the case for fellow Irish people mired in the most unenviable of circumstances? Did they cease to be Irish when they left these shores? The answers to these questions are, in my view, self-evident. Irish political leaders don’t just have the option to bring up the undocumented at every opportunity; they have a moral duty to do so. Yet there remains a vocal minority who at times sneeringly disagree and for whom the undocumented Irish in the US are not a priority at any level.
Their sentiments are very difficult for me to accept when I encounter them either in person or in the media. They have equally enraged and surprised me since I moved here more than a decade ago.
Anyone who grew up in the Boston area in the 1980s and early 1990s could be forgiven for thinking that all Irish people want to move to America. From our own ethnic backgrounds and families to incessant interaction with young Irish people on the streets, in the pubs, on the building sites and on the playing fields, every corner of Ireland was in every corner of Boston. I got to know some Irish who had overstayed their visas back then through my family’s political work on their behalf; I came to know more later as my own social circle grew; and there are countless others I don’t know who have arrived in the years since I’ve been away.
To me, those I know, those I know to see and those I don’t know at all are not just a number – 10,000 or whatever the most recent estimate of undocumented Irish living in Boston and its environs might be. They are people with whom I share a special kinship. They have settled in my native county as I have settled in theirs. This is not to lionise them; they did break the law and many are far from saints. But every time I hear dispatches from Boston about someone having to miss either a sorrowful or joyous event over here, my heart sinks.
Their hearts, too, have sunk on past occasions when immigration reform looked as if it would finally happen, only to be forestalled as a consequence of some unexpected event. It is with them in mind that I read in the middle of one night last week of another unexpected event: Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s defeat by a Tea Party primary challenger who attacked Cantor’s position on granting “amnesty for illegals.”
My immediate reaction, echoed by prominent observers, was that this outcome would frighten incumbent Republicans and effectively keep House Speaker John Boehner from allowing there to be a vote on immigration reform legislation before this year’s mid-term elections and even thereafter. On the other hand, since then, measured analysis of Cantor’s defeat suggests that immigration was not the decisive factor. As the Tánaiste has noted, it’s more likely a setback than the death knell.
Additionally, the long-term demographic shifts in the US and resulting harsh political realities for the Republican Party haven’t changed. Its leaders recognise that they must change the perception that they’re anti-immigrant – and fast. Paul Ryan’s embrace of a pro-reform stance demonstrates the unique role Ireland can play on this front. Accordingly, it is to be welcomed that the Tánaiste has been on Capitol Hill at this critical juncture.
And as for those who take issue with how he’s used his time there this week or with the Irish government’s advocacy for its undocumented in the US? I think I’ll fall back on some sound motherly advice: if you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston attorney, Law Lecturer at NUI Galway and columnist with TheJournal.ie and IrishCentral.com.
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What does Ireland do with illegal immigrants?
Doesn’t matter….The ones in ireland have the protection of the Geneva convention and the UN. Declaration of human rights….The U.S. doesn’t recognize them
Does hypocrisy feature in your vocabulary?
Throws out US citizens who overstay their visas.
Think your confusing a refugee with an illegal immigrant
All illegal Immigrants should be deported regardless of Nationality
If you knowingly break the laws of a land you should not expect to be rewarded , you should be dealth with in the manner you have dealt with their system.
deport all illegal Immigrants now
They need our help!! but yet we have people on the radio here yesterday supporting a protest outside a mans home because he got a house for his family but hes not Irish!!! Hmmm
Did that actually happen? You’d need to be twelve shades of bast@rd to do that outside someone’s house
Yep did happen. Seems to be well supported by some people on this site!
Was that not in a different country!
Belfast to be exact.
They broke the law. Why should they get special treatment. All illegals everywhere should be deported.
Undocumented irish not paying taxes and getting a wage from the cash market. Now when that happens in Ireland we are up in arms with the foreigners. Rules are rules.
Most undocumented Irish in the US are paying tax. They also contribute to the local economy. The main difference is they get no benefits whatsoever, no work means no money and God help ya if you get sick.
Thery are illegal so does the irish government condone people breaking laws?
“The undocumented Irish in the US need and deserve our help” Sorry Larry, they might need our help but they don’t deserve it, through whatever circumstances they’ve broken the terms of their visas and they all knew (or should have known the consequences) , there would be absolute uproar if governments of illegals in Ireland were lobbying something similar, the government should be advocating for a more fair program for Irish to go and work in America as someone who previously lived and worked in the US on visas I resent rule breakers getting rewarded
Undocumented irish in the USA are contributing to society, unlike the sort of illegal immigrants we have sponging of our over generous social welfare here in this country. You cannot compare like with like.
You have a different view than the establishment on immigrants in Ireland, you must be an evil racist.
Well spotted.
What they are contributing the society? I am not against them and wish they get their legal status as soon as possible so they can travel to back home to meet their love ones.
I am against the Irish people double standard.
Educate yourself COOM. To be ‘illegal’ means that you are in a country without being part of a legal process. As such, there are very few ‘illegals’ in Ireland, by contrast with the US. The asylum seekers here are in a process and are therefore by definition not illegal. Furthermore they are not allowed to work so enoughof the guff about them not contributing. Let them work and if they refuse, then you have cause to complain.
No they arent….no taxes is criminal
Opposition to immigration does not necessarily mean racism
@COOM
Undocumented people in the US are illegal residents. The law is the law. If I was a US citizen I would have no qualms about reporting them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If I knew of people who were illegally resident in Ireland I’d report them too.
If you’re in a foreign country when you’re not supposed to be in it, you’re breaking the law.
Deport them.
And let’s have a revolution!
Nah.
Ryan and the rest of the Tea Billies would be glad to legalise illegal Irish immigrants in America, because we are white and they are desperate to counterbalance the flood of Mexicans
They can’t be a special case over everyone else. I’d love to move over ‘legally” but it’s because of all the illegals it’s not possible. US needs to look at its border with Mexico too…there are hundreds if not thousands crossing the rio grande every single day.
It’s actually taken on a case by case basis….merit based
@ Steve
Why shouldn’t the Irish be considered a special case? Surely you don’t believe that an Irish migrant should be considered equal to a Yemeni or other nation with no connection to the place.
In the Gulf countries, they discriminate against westerners only keeping them if/while they’re useful. Why should the US take in migrants from the Middle East or South Asia or make it easier for them to stay and over the course of a few generations breed them out? This is happening in France and England right now. They will soon be no different to Hyderabad or Islamabad because they DO NOT integrate.
Race or colour are completely irrelevant factors in this, it’s the ethos of the group in question that matters.
The Irish are culturally, politically quite similar to Americans. The standard of living is also not extremely different but more important than that is the fact that the Irish integrate within a generation in the US and are indistinguishable from other Americans. This fact makes them highly desirable as immigrants compared to some other groups.
Aren’t these all valid reasons for a special case being made for the Irish?
Wat makes the Irish in USA any more special than other illegals
There is a strangeness about the US policy in this regard. It allows ‘illegals’ to work, and therefore contribute to their society as a whole whilst also (particularly in the case of Mexican immigrants) providing a very cheap labour pool, these workers cannot become an undue burden in the state ‘social welfare’ system as they can be deported. Given the US’s history of exploiting cheap labour pools I wonder if it is not entirely inconvenient for their government to continue a policy of turning a blind eye, with the exception of the politically sensitive nationalities coming up to elections and mid terms.
”It allows ‘illegals’ to work, and therefore contribute to their society as a whole whilst also (particularly in the case of Mexican immigrants) providing a very cheap labour pool,”
– Nail on the head there – they always wanted the Mexicans – especially during fruit picking time !!-
”California, Arizona, I harvest your crops
Well its North up to Oregon to gather your hops
Dig the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine
To set on your table your light sparkling wine
Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down
Every state in the Union us migrants have been
We’ll work in this fight and we’ll fight till we win”
Woody Guthrie
Double standards for the most part. Illegal immigrants here do not have such a mandate
Are you joking me? We have one of the most relaxed immigration policies in the world, infact we don’t even have a true defined policy on immigration nor have we ever had a debate in our parliament on immigration.
The illegals in Ireland were even brazen enough to hold a protest in front of the Dail, could you imagine the illegals in US protesting in front of the white house?, they’d be round up and deported!
http://www.thejournal.ie/migrants-seek-documentation-1216971-Dec2013/
We did!! 2000 of us went to Washington in 06 with the ILIR to meet senators and congressman. Ted Kennedy gave a speech.
Reason we dont have a debate on this is simply the Leftist Liberal Loons start yelling rascist and play the rascist card.Not ONE main political party will go near this with a 10 ft barge pole.So is it surprising that we have everyone from Lagos showing up here saying this id the land of milk and honey??
We need to discuss this rationally without the rascists on both sides polarising the debate.
They are not undocumented, they are illegal. Why should they be treated differently from illegal immigrants from other countries. I
Anyway whats the fuss? Didn’t eamon tell Barack sort it out! Surprised its take over six hrs.
Before we start looking for action on undocumented Irish in US, we should look at the condition “undocumented” people are living under in our “direct provision” system in Ireland.
But we need the USA to catch our young when the home economy fails, don’t we? Brings down unemployment stats!
Why can’t we? Judging by the comments on this forum in relation to immigrants – legal and illegal – it takes some gall to expect favourable treatment for our illegals anywhere. We should get over ourselves.
It seems to me that undocumented equals illegal. However if these people are paying taxes in the US then there exists some “documentation” on them. If the US is prepared to accept their taxes then the US have an obligation to regularise their status. The “undocumented” are obviously fulfilling some useful need in the US system otherwise it would have been possible to trace them through their tax record and have them deported. Of course here in Ireland there are many “undocumented” working particularly in the care of the elderly sector who pay their taxes and do the work the Irish maybe shy away from and for less pay. If we insist on special arrangements for Irish in America as a matter of equal treatment should we not apply the same criteria to the the “undocumented” in Ireland because in many cases the state knows their PPSN so there is a document in existence. Of course states and immigration authorities have at times “moved the goalposts” in a manner which renders the documented undocumented at the stroke of a pen.
Here’s the thing, last year the Irish Voice ran a sob story here about here an Irish family had to leave Ireland because the economy is brutal and they had no jobs and all the usual, sad stuff. They told how they put their kids in a school in New York, and he was now working for cash in hand, and…this is great…they had renters in their home in Dublin. Well, suffice to say the reaction perhaps wasn’t the one they or the paper had expected, everything was brought up from them taking a place in the school which was already full already, from any new, legal, arrival, to them making money and not paying tax but the biggest thing that pissed people off was the renting of the house. They were called absentee landlords, and scroungers, the works. Bottom line is it’s not just Americans who are losing patience with the f@&ked up immigration system here, it’s the legal immigrants who have to hear about the illegals and the tarring everyone gets. I don’t judge them either way, i’m not them, I don’t live their life but I would urge anyone thinking about coming here illegal to think again. Not least the messed up health service. It’s a rip off and has put citizens on the street with it’s costs. Look for opportunities where they need the bodies
Double standards
Have we not moved past the country prisons yet on Mother Earth.
We had none of this country boundaries long ago. Only in patriarchal spoils of wars did we divide up Mother Earth and declare people inside one fence country A and another country B.
Then we came with pass ports for air ports and sea ports under maritime law, with us all deemed persons as opposed to sovereign Human beings.
So all this passport and visa talk is making money and creating more wars and disputes.
Surely its time to evolve back to when we all knew we were One human family.?
But there’s a lock on your front door though.
they know exactly what they are doing, they knew full well they were breaking the law, I was in US and worked illegally when i was there, if i got caught and thrown out I would haver no problem with it, the rules are there for a reason.
I knew I was working illegally why on earth would i have problem if was caught and deported, in a civilised you need to observe the rules. These people need to grow up and take responsibility for their actions.
And as for them paying taxes and using this as a justification for them geting residency, ha they are not paying taxes out of the goodness of their heart or to help america, they would pay no tax f they could. get away with it.
50,000 Irish are not the problem, it is years of poor immigration policies, not implementing existing law, unprotected borders of the southern states that allowed millions of the poorest of the poor from Mexico and South America to flood in costing tax payers billions of dollars in dealing with the growing mess. In the US immigration reform equals amnesty for law breakers while those who are going through legal channels are being punished. That is why reform is rightfully being resisted.
Yuzzz are all gas !!!
God I can hear your accent in my head
ほんとあなた大好き
Its awful to be kicked out of a home after 20+ years. Ireland will have even less to offer these people then when they left in the 80s or 90s. I take it they are mainly unskilled or semi-skilled people in their 40s. God help them if they have to come back here
More pertinently, those people are likely to have nothing to offer Ireland if they are sent back here.
A picture of the Tánaiste walking the famed corridors of Capitol Hill with the Republican congressional leader and 2012 vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, even appeared on Twitter.
The picture, as the old maxim goes, says a thousand words. It is further proof positive of the extraordinary access that this small and strategically unimportant country enjoys in the US.”
–
Yes – we have a ” special relationship ” with USA – they tell us how high to jump – and their corporations use us as a tax haven and they use Shannon as they wish -
- Wow – we are special .
As for Ryan – he is a nutter – wanted to raise defence spending by $ 300 Billion in a country that is broke – and who cant / wont look after their own .
The pity is – that he and his type were not elected – so that he and the rest of them could be found out for what they are .
Let them all come home at least they had the gumption to leave and better themselves imagine if they all returned unemployment would double
All those IRISH want is our woman, money and coors light heathens I tell you .
Randolph, release the hounds.
.
PS; Paul Ryan likes to have his way with small injured farm animals.
How completely irresponsible would you have to be to get yourself into that situation?
I know the country isn’t in the best shape ever, but it’s not like you’re being deported to bloody Nigeria or something for God’s sake.
Being undocumented or illegal means the same thing , a person goes to the US on a holiday visa/J1 whatever and doesn’t leave, they basically went on a holiday and disapeared . some say they pay tax but this is not possible without a social security number which take up to 6 months to get for a US citizen. False SS numbers are however available to buy for a fee on the streets in queens NY , In a very random interaction with a Spanish dude in a shop about ten years ago I was offered one but I declined his kind offer. My point being anyone who files tax on a false SS number is only wasting their time, it is of no benefit to them for visa or indeed any purpose. I see the attraction of wanting to be there, seems to be no shortage of work but to live undocumented means exactly that, no paper trail!
The Mexican journal have a similar article about they “in document” citizen in the US … hahaha.
The Irish should look closer to home. For every new car purchased an Irish person has to be exported to Australia or Canada or illegal in the US. €1.5 Billion p.a. spent on new cars (with daft tax bias) would support 20,000 Irish wealth creating productive jobs. Irish need to look after their own. Disgusting.
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