By Georgina Brennan

The new lobby group created by the Irish Voice, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), is joining immigrant advocacy groups throughout the country to work at defeating HR 4437, the controversial border security and illegal alien bill co-sponsored by Congressmen James Senesnbrenner and Peter King that will reach the House floor for a vote later this week.

“This is the kind of bill that brings out the worst in Americans,” said ILIR founder Niall O’Dowd. “It is vitally important that all Irish Americans make their voices heard on this nasty piece of legislation that is harmful in the extreme.”

The ILIR link — www.irishlobbyusa.org/Sensenbrenner.php — contains information on how people can contact congressional representatives to voice opposition about the bill.

“Time is of the essence,” O’Dowd pointed out. “We need to make our voices heard on this matter now. Next week will be too late. It’s important to send a message to the extremists in this country that the views they represent are wrong.”

Meanwhile, the ILIR is looking for undocumented residents to contribute to a blog, which “would put a human face on what’s going on in our country,” O’Dowd said. Visit the site for further information on how to get involved.