By Debbie McGoldrick

A pent-up demand for Irish American action on the critical issue of immigration reform was unleashed last Friday night at the inaugural meeting of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), the new lobby group created by the Irish Voice that will advocate on behalf of the estimated 20-30,000 Irish undocumented in the U.S.

An overflow crowd of more than 100, including representatives of the Irish government and many community groups, filled a meeting room at the Affinia Hotel to chart an immediate course of action in the weeks and months ahead, as immigration legislation is poised take centre stage in Congress.

The meeting was chaired by Irish Voice founding publisher Niall O’Dowd and addressed by two influential members of the pro-immigration lobby, former Congressman Bruce Morrison, who created the visa program bearing his name that granted 48,000 green cards to Irish citizens in the early 1990s, and Esther Olavarria, general counsel to Senator Edward Kennedy on immigration.

“The time has now come, unless we actually address this issue full square, tonight and onwards, we’re not going to be included in the new legislation,” O’Dowd told the audience.

“Right across this country, we need to focus on the key politicians so that we can be at the table when the legislation comes down. This is something that we are going to stick at right through. Politicians respond to grassroots efforts. Our undocumented are under enormous pressure now — they can’t go home, and they feel trapped. They need our help now.”

Ciaran Staunton, one of the co-founders of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement and an ILIR board member, energized the audience with a strong call to action. “We can do this!” he said to loud applause. “People have always told us you can’t do this, can’t do that, or the other. Bull! Get out there and do it!”

An old and trusted friend of the Irish community, Congressman Peter King, came in for criticism over his sponsorship of a bill that would criminalize undocumented aliens, making them subject to jail sentences if detected. (See Page 11 for more.)

Attorney Eamonn Dornan said he was shocked at the “despicable” bill, and added that King hasn’t been listening to his Irish constituents. “We don’t appear to be his constituency anymore,” Dornan added. “His bill cannot go any further.”

The question and answer session was an informative one for the undocumented in the audience who were eager to hear about what may become of their futures in the U.S.

“It’s getting harder and harder,” said one who stood up to speak. “We can’t get driver’s licenses, we can’t do anything, and people are going home. Do I tell them to hang on for a few months? They just can’t take the pressure of being here anymore.”

Her words laid the harsh reality of life as an illegal on the line for the audience. Olivarria and Morrison provided an overview of what the undocumented can expect to happen on Capitol Hill in the near future.

Olavarria discussed the bill Senator Kennedy and his Republican colleague John McCain introduced in May of this year. It is the legislation that is most favoured by business groups throughout the U.S., as well as immigrant advocacy groups and the Irish government.

The Kennedy/McCain bill “covers a number of different issues, but the one that’s becoming most contentious,” said Olavarria, “is that the bill provides legal status for undocumented persons here in the U.S.

“Anyone who was in the country on the date of the bill’s introduction on May 12 of this year would be eligible to come forward and register with the Department of Homeland Security, pay a $1,000 fee, go through background checks. Once that happens the person would be eligible for a work permit.

“The person would have to commit to working for six years — at the end of the six years they would have to show evidence that they worked and paid their taxes, to be eligible to apply for permanent residency.”

Kennedy/McCain also provides for a temporary worker program for new workers to legally come to the U.S., and it would make major changes to the existing avenues of immigration — specifically, the bill would add visas to eliminate the enormous backlog of cases that are currently awaiting action, many of which have been stagnant for years.

The bill also includes border security provisions and employer sanction penalties for hiring illegal aliens, but though it is backed by two prominent members of the Senate, it has run into stiff opposition from hard right elements that want to concentrate primarily on enforcement changes to immigration law.

Olavarria also spoke about the Senate bill introduced by Republican Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl that is “heavy on enforcement, and really doesn’t have any kind of program for the undocumented here,” she said. That bill requires illegals to return to their native countries before eligibility for a temporary worker program.

Olavarria described a further Senate bill authored by Senator Chuck Hagel as “trying to split the baby,” because it provides a worker program for undocumented residents who arrived in the U.S. prior to 2000, but requires those who arrived after that time to leave the U.S. within five years before they can return.

“All of these bills are under consideration in the Senate,” Olavarria said, calling the latest Senate bill introduced by Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the body’s Judiciary Committee, “the worst of the solutions for the undocumented.”

After the Senate finishes dealing with the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito, the Judiciary Committee will then debate the various immigration bills on the table, Olavarria said. Once a bill emerges from Judiciary, it will make its way to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Olavarria says that the timetable for action is late February/early March. “A lot of things could intervene to derail this plan,” she said, “but that’s the earliest things could happen in the Senate.”

In the House, Olavarria said, Congressmen Jim Kolbe, Jeff Flake and Luis Gutierrez have introduced a companion bill to Kennedy/McCain. But the House, Olavarria added, is far more focused on enforcement-only bills.

Once the House and Senate passes bills, they will then be meshed together in a final House/Senate conference to come up with a final piece of legislation for President Bush to sign.

“At this point it’s hard to say where all this will end up,” Olavarria said. “Judging from past experiences it will probably not be the Kennedy/McCain model, because legislation is the game of compromise. In the end to get something done, you have to compromise on something else.” As far as President Bush’s stance on the issue of immigration reform, Olavarria said that his proposals have been vague at best.

“He doesn’t say much more than there can’t be an amnesty,” she said. “He hasn’t introduced a bill, and we don’t know how active he’ll be in this debate. At this point it’s not looking good because it is such a contentious issue for the Republican Party.”

Former Congressman Morrison, a veteran immigration campaigner during his tenure in Congress in the 1980s, said the Irish can be a powerful political force when they mobilize.

“I’m sorry I have to be here for another battle, but I’m glad to be a part of it,” Morrison said.

“This is a place where Irish people have been coming for 200 years, and which has provided to Irish people and to America huge benefits. Those people that are the problem in working on comprehensive immigration reform fundamentally think that sometime immigration stopped being the lifeblood of America. Whoever those people are they are wrong.

“Immigration is a critical part of who we are. I think Irish people understand that as well as any in the world.”

Morrison spoke of the 1990 Immigration Act of which created the Morrison visa program and its 48,000 Irish green cards as an example of Irish unity at its best.

“For once the Irish spoke with a united voice,” he said. “Groups that warred with each other on every other subject decided to agree on this. We should have that again. That bill reflected a level of belief in the power of immigration, of opening the doors. I was proud of being a part of the enactment.”

Morrison recalled his House colleagues asking him about “the Irish bill,” in 1990, thanks to the lobbying efforts of the grassroots Irish Immigration Reform Movement.

“The members weren’t going to vote for an immigration bill, but they heard about the Irish bill and they decided to vote yes,” Morrison said. “So we can make a difference. Senator Kennedy and our colleagues need our help now. I know you all can do it because I watched. I was lobbied, and now I want to get on your side.”

Joe Hackett, first secretary at the Irish Embassy in Washington, D.C., addressed the audience to express the support of the Irish government in the drive to secure immigration reform.

“The next four or five months are going to be critical to the future of the Irish undocumented,” he said. “It’s crucial that we come together.”

“Thankfully we have economic prosperity at home, but with his comes new responsibility. One of the main responsibilities of the Irish government is to our needy abroad, particularly the Irish undocumented in this country.

“That is why we have lobbied intensively over the past year for three main things — that the undocumented have the right to travel home, that they can adjust their status without having to leave the U.S. and that ultimately they have a path to permanent residence. That is why the government has supported the Kennedy/McCain bill,” Hackett added.

What’s next? The ILIR has established a website — www.irishlobbyusa.org — that will be updated on a daily basis. Political meetings are being organized, and a game plan is being developed.

But, Morrison and Olavarria stressed, the Irish community needs to get going, immediately. “We need to be organized, we need to be part of the political fight. There can never be too much scrutiny of these bills,” Morrison said. “The political strength of the Irish American community is very great.”

“I would encourage all of you to become part of the significant coalition of support that is behind Kennedy/McCain, including all of business, some of labour, practically all of the religious organizations, and all of the immigrant rights groups around the country,” Olavarria said.

The undocumented came away from the meeting feeling better, but caution still reigns.

“I want to go home, just for a short visit,” said one. “I haven’t been back in four years. I’m working hard here, bothering no one and trying to build a future.

“If I had a visa,” he added, “it would be a great deal for both me and America, a country that I’ve grown to love.”