Assurances for Undocumented

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Editorial / Periscope - Niall O'Dowd

Assurances for Undocumented

October 1, 2008

Editorial

IRISH Foreign Minister Micheal Martin in New York last week gave strong assurances to the undocumented community that their situation is not being forgotten by the Irish government.

It was an important assurance given the very real need to prioritize the situation of the undocumented in America, which the Irish government are pledged to do.

There were understandable fears among the undocumented after the announcement last week that a program to give 20,000 visas a year to recent and current students from Ireland to spend a year working in America was agreed between the U.S. and Irish governments.

The leaking of the story to The Irish Times prior to Martin’s visit to America gave the impression that this was the master plan the Irish government had been working on, and that the issue of the undocumented was no longer center stage.

Such news filtering through a community, which is on edge anyway because of their status, was bound to create resentment. It is important, however, to keep this latest move in context.

The undocumented also felt, rightly, that it was their huge rallies in Washington, D.C. and their efforts to ensure the issue became a priority at home in Ireland that made the new visa happen in large part.

Thus it was very important that Martin, who cut an impressive figure during his visit here, reassure the community that the issue of the undocumented was very much a priority with him and the government as a whole.

He did so in straightforward fashion before several different audiences. He made it clear that the government cannot work miracles, as some undocumented appear to think, wave a wand and make visas appear.

However, the government can and will work hard to ensure that the new student visas are just the first step in a series of major efforts to help with immigration reform, and ensure a restored flow of legal immigration from Ireland to America.

They have committed to trying to ensure that an E-3 visa program, similar to what was granted to Australia, which would allow up to 10,000 Irish to work legally in America, gets through Congress.

Since Brian Cowen became taoiseach (prime minister) there has been a far greater focus on the issues surrounding the Irish diaspora and the undocumented who form a part of that.

They are also committed to helping in whatever way they can with overall immigration reform, which promises to be a very prickly issue once again in the next Congress.

Immigration reform as an issue in the U.S. has become entangled in the increasingly confrontational style of politics which is currently in vogue. Working a massive bill through Congress to ensure reform will be incredibly difficult.

It is hard to see as broad a comprehensive package passing in the next Congress similar to what the Kennedy/McCain bill tried to achieve in the last Congress.

However, there is no doubt that there will be activity around a number of issues affecting the undocumented. With their undoubted clout on Capitol Hill the Irish government and the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform will provide a powerful voice for change in tandem with other communities. Minter Martin was reassuring on that point.

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