By April Drew

THE Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) is two weeks away from its biggest rally ever in Washington, D.C., according to the group’s executive director Kelly Fincham.

“The hard work that ILIR has done this past year is really beginning to show across America. Everyone wants to go to the rally on March 7,” Fincham said.

“We're even getting calls from people who are planning to make it a family outing,” she added, referring to some who have family out to visit in March.

Fincham said the real success behind the lobby day would be down to the incredible amount of effort and persistence of the various ILIR chapters nationwide.

“We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to the organizers of all the events that have taken place and are coming up, and to all the people who are on the ground trying to get people to Washington,” she said.

In just over a year, ILIR has grown into the largest active Irish American organization in the country. Mary Brennan, who has been involved since day one, has seen a huge growth in the organization and is delighted to be involved in making history.

“It's grown like something else and now were heading back to Washington for a third monster rally,” she said.

The Bronx office already has 500 people signed up to leave from the Bronx, Yonkers, and upstate New York. “It's still early days and we also keep hearing about people who are driving down and making a trip out of it,” Brennan said. It is also expected that more people will sign up after the New York ILIR dinner dance on March 2.

“We know from past experience that several people will sign up at the last minute and we will get a huge crowd below there,” Brennan said. Although the numbers won't be final until the day of the rally people in the community are keyed up and emotive about March 7.

If people wish to sign up for the Bronx and Queens buses then they are advised to call the ILIR office at 914-420-5894.

Deirdre Hickey in Queens told the Irish Voice that over 160 people in her borough have already put their names down to travel to Washington.

“The response is great to date,” she said.

The Queens ILIR committee plans to use strong-arm tactics this weekend when they go to the bars in the area and re-inform people about the rally and persuade them to attend.

Hickey, who knows that people are aware of how important the lobby day is, said the Queens committee just wants to refresh their memories and make sure that they get on the bus.

“Everyone we spoke with has been following it in the newspapers and have all given us their word that they will attend, so we’re pretty positive on numbers and really looking forward to a very successful rally,” she said.

After a successful fundraiser held in Philadelphia last Friday, the local committee there has pledged to send 1,000 delegates to Washington. Tom Conaghan, executive director of the Immigration and Pastoral Center of Philadelphia, said that no one wants the Irish community to die in their state.

“The loss of one’s community would be a terrible tragedy,” he said. “This is our big push and we expect everyone there and we're getting good vibes from people telling us that they will be attending.”

The Philadelphia GAA will also be sending a delegation to meet with senators and representatives on

the day in an effort to push immigration reform. Conaghan feels passionate that people, both undocumented and documented, especially previous winners of green cards, should get out to Washington on the 7th to participate in the fight for legal status for the estimated 50,000 undocumented.

Referring to last year’s election results, Conaghan said that in Pennsylvania voters took a stand against anti-immigrant politicians such as Senator Rick Santorum, and new seats were won by pro-immigrant voices such as Senator Bob Casey.

“The likes of Casey will help us especially when they see us at their offices in Washington,” he said.

Conaghan urges anyone who hasn't signed for Washington to do so soon by calling 610-789-6355.

Hughie Meehan from the Boston ILIR committee is very confident that they will be sending over 500 people to the Capitol.

“At the minute we have about 250 people registered to go down and then tonight (Tuesday) we have another registration taking place in four different locations,” he said.

Meehan is hopeful after Tuesday's registration that they will have over 400 people signed and sealed. “We also have a banquet on Friday night where we have 680 people attending so we hope to rally up a few more at that,” he said.

Meehan said that the response in Boston has been wonderful, and he knows from past rallies that several more will sign up for the bus at the last minute. “I think the week leading up to the event will see more and more people signing up for sure,” he said.

To sign up with the Boston office people are advised to call 617-319-1674.

Celine Kennelly, executive director for the Irish Immigration Center in San Francisco, told the Irish Voice on Tuesday that the response has been phenomenal since the successful ILIR meeting in the city on February 1, in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a message endorsing ILIR.

“Since that meeting the phone has literally hopped with people wanting information on traveling to D.C.,” said Kennelly.

The San Francisco chapter of ILIR has over 170 people signed up to go to the rally, departing to on Tuesday, March 6 and arriving at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Most of them are booked to fly back that night.

“That's incredible dedication for you,” Kennelly said. “People who have booked flights to go are all paying an average of $300 per person. Some got lucky with a lower rate and others who had to dig deeper to pay for the heftier flights up in the $500s, but everybody is paying for their flights out of their own pockets. It’s been amazing.”

Several Morrison and Donnelly visa holders who can't go to Washington have given money to pay for others to attend.

“People are really energized, they understand that after working on this for a year their civic involvement is extremely important, thus giving them an vital input so they can make a difference,” Kennelly said.

The pastoral center in San Francisco, who has acted as ticketing agents

for booking flights to Washington to date, urges people to call them at 415-752-6006 if they are still interested in going to Washington.

Fincham said the event is also getting attention from former members of ILIR now back in Ireland.

“I'm also getting about 40 calls a week from people in Ireland who are wondering when they will be able to come back into the country. It really is phenomenal,” she said.