Problems for Reform Bill

THERE appears to be a high stakes game of chicken going on in the immigration issue currently before Congress.

The effort by Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain to draft a new immigration bill from scratch has essentially been abandoned, and the version of last year’s bill that made it out of the Judiciary Committee has been put forth for introduction.

That in itself is a decent piece of legislation that would take care of the Irish undocumented, but it is regrettable that the process starts off in such a flat-footed way given the small window of opportunity.

Key to the problem was the issue of the non-involvement of Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter in the discussions. Specter was regarded as a blocking force last year, though he did eventually come around and approve a good bill. This year he was sidelined and clearly did not like it one bit.

The upshot was a stand off which forced McCain to back away from a new and improved version, as it put him outside the pale of the Republican Party on the issue.

Also involved was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who has made clear that he wants a clear commitment from the Bush administration to passing the legislation before he gives the bill the floor and the time needed for it to pass.

It appears that he believes he has been receiving some mixed signals from the White House on the bill which has not helped matters.

It seems now that the bill will be delayed which is not good news. However, it is not entirely surprising that different agendas would clash early in the process.

The hope must be that they will be resolved sooner rather than later

Ahern on a High

TAOISEACH (Prime Minister) Ahern arrives in the U.S. this week very much as a conquering hero, with the good results from the Northern election very much front and center.

Ahern and his British counterpart Tony Blair have cajoled the Northern parties to the point where they are on the verge of a historic agreement to share power in a new Executive.

For Ahern, who will be the longest serving Prime Minister in Irish history if he wins re-election in the Irish general election later this year, the payoff from the North’s elections could well spill over into a feel good factor in the tough electoral race he faces in the Irish Republic.

Opinion polls before Christmas appeared to show Ahern’s coalition government with a decisive lead, but since then, with signs of an economic slowdown in Celtic Tiger land the polls appear to have tightened.

The U.S. trip will also be an opportunity for Ahern to press home the urgency of a resolution of the undocumented Irish issue to the American administration.

With Bush coming off a lengthy trip to South America where illegal immigration was a constant focus, Ahern is well placed to win the president’s ear on the topic when they meet in the White House on Friday, March 16.

There are few politicians anywhere in the world more persuasive than Bertie on a mission, as opponents and friends have long known. His “aw shucks” demeanor hides a canny political brain which has seen him preside over both the Celtic Tiger and the drive for peace in the North, making him by far the most successful Irish leader of modern times.

No doubt he would like to add the issue of solving the problem of Irish undocumented in the U.S. to that list, as well as sorting out the long-term issue of Irish emigrating legally to America.

Don’t bet against Ahern on this. He has the can-do attitude of the best American politicians and an election in the offing, a lethal combination.

O’Bama Is Irish!

ANCESTRY.com, the world’s largest online resource for family history which recently discovered Al Sharpton’s shocking connection to the late Senator Strom Thurmond, has revealed that Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has Irish branches in his family tree.

More than a century and a half ago, 19-year-old Falmouth Kearney, Obama’s third great-grandfather, sailed from Ireland, landing in New York harbor on March 20, 1850.

Settling initially in Ohio among Irish relatives, Falmouth married, had eight children and eventually moved to Indiana. Three of Falmouth’s daughters married three brothers with the last name of Dunham. Obama’s mother is descended from one of these couples — her birth name was Dunham.

Falmouth was among the thousands of Irish immigrating to America to escape the late 1840s Famine in Ireland. By 1860, New York City had the largest Irish population in the world a quarter of its residents had been born in Ireland.

“If Barack Obama and Al Sharpton’s family histories have taught us anything, it’s shown that our roots illustrate the diverse fabric of America’s history,” says Megan Smolenyak, chief family historian for Ancestry.com.

“Our family heritage is often a tangle of roots that defines our existence within the events that shaped this country. There’s no such thing as a boring family tree and as you discover your own history, the journey reveals the real stories of America.”

If Obama succeeds in his presidential aspirations, he won’t be the first commander in chief with ties to Ireland. Ronald Reagan’s great-grandfather, Michael O’Regan, was born in Ireland in the 1820s, as was John F. Kennedy’s great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy.

Interestingly, the White House was also designed by Irishman James Hoban.