By Debbie McGoldrick

IN a meeting bound to be rife with symbolism, the House Immigration Subcommittee chaired by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California will begin discussions on the issue of immigration reform on Friday morning, March 30 at Ellis Island, first port of call for hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the U.S. from around the world during the last century.

“This is going to be a fact finding hearing,” Lofgren’s press secretary Pedro Ribeiro told the Irish Voice. “They are going to look at the issue in a historical and demographic context.”

Ribeiro said that most of the 16 members of the subcommittee are expected to attend the meeting. Congressman John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is also a possible attendee.

The meeting will not specifically discuss the immigration legislation introduced in the House last week by Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona known as the STRIVE Act.

The bill provides a path to legalization for the undocumented in the U.S. on or before June 1, 2006. As the bill currently stands, those who would qualify for legal status would have to show evidence of employment, complete all security background checks and pay a $500 fine.

Provided all requirements are met, the applicant would receive a temporary six-year visa that could eventually be converted to a green card. Applicants for such status would have to go to the back of the existing line for legalization, pay a further $1,500 fine, pay taxes, clear security checks and meet a legal re-entry requirement during the preceding six years in temporary status – i.e., leave the country and re-enter through any port of entry, the so-called “touchback” mechanism.

The bill also contains a new guest worker program with the establishment of an H-2C visa, with an annual allocation of 400,000, and an array of border security enhancements. As the bill is written, the guest worker program or the legalization provisions for the undocumented would not be permitted to go into effect until the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security certifies that “improvements in border surveillance technology are bring implemented.”

Praise for the STRIVE Act came from several quarters last week, including Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who has encountered difficulty in re-introducing an immigration measure in the Senate.

“I’m hopeful that the House introduction today will help spur the necessary negotiations in the Senate to help forge the right kind of compromise. Last year, we beat the odds in the Senate by passing bipartisan immigration bill — and I’m confident we’ll do so again in the coming weeks,” Kennedy said.

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs also welcomed the new bill. “Although the legislative situation is fluid and the final outcome uncertain, the introduction of the bipartisan bill in the House marks a significant advance in the debate,” he said.

“In the critical period ahead, I will continue to attach the highest priority to our efforts on behalf of the undocumented Irish. I know that my efforts on their behalf will be strongly complemented by the very effective work of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.”

Congressman Joe Crowley, a co-sponsor of the STRIVE Act, said, “This bipartisan legislation enforces accountability and strong border controls, while offering an earned path to citizenship to those who have contributed to our society through hard work. I call on leaders of both parties, and the president, to work together for a solution to the longstanding issue of immigration.”

Crowley’s planned meeting on immigration with Gutierrez which was tentatively set for this Thursday in Queens has been temporarily postponed.