Ahern in final push to help illegal
emigrants
 IRISH
Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern will fly to Washington this week
in a final push to try to help illegal emigrants in America.
Mr Ahern will campaign on behalf of a new Bill which aims to give illegals
in America official status — including an estimated 25,000 Irish.
The draft legislation, which would deal sensitively with the Irish and
give them a path to permanent residency, is set to be debated by America’s
Senate and then the House of Representatives.
Mr Ahern revealed he had asked his officials to arrange a trip to the
US this week to help with the final push for an acceptable outcome to
the long wrangle over illegal aliens.
The new Bill has been passed by the important Senate Judiciary Committee
and could form the basis for comprehensive immigration reform in America
ahead of various other more repressive measures.
His move follows a recent campaign and demonstration in America by thousands
of Irish people mobilised by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.
Mr Ahern said: “The protest created a huge impression.”
He said he had personally heard of its effects on Senators and Congressmen
many of whom had not realised that controls effectively aimed at border-crossing
land arrivals would also hit the Irish.
Mr Ahern said he believed the next two weeks would be crucial to the legislative
outcome.
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