NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish Pubs Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > News > Irish Foreign Minister putting pressure on US politicians to make deal for illegal Irish immigrants

Irish Foreign Minister putting pressure on US politicians to make deal for illegal Irish immigrants

Eamon Gilmore pushing for immigration reform in St. Patrick’s week offensive

KERRY O'SHEA,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, February 25, 2013, 7:25 AM

Updated Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 3:23 PM

Larger Text

E-mail

19 Comments

See more: Fine Gael

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore photographed outside Government buildings in Dublin

Photo by Google Images

Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore has been calling American politicians hoping to put the pressure on to create a deal in the US for illegal Irish immigrants.

TheJournal.ie reports that Gilmore is aiming to use upcoming St. Patrick’s Day to his advantage in his appeal for an immigration deal. With TDs travelling to the US in honor of the holiday, Gilmore is hoping for meetings with policy makers and lobby groups.

“I am currently engaged in a round of telephone discussions with key US Senators to discuss prospects for progress and to underline our ongoing interest in the issue,” said Gilmore.

The Tanaiste also reportedly raised the immigration issue with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while she was visiting Ireland in December.

While the exact figure is not known, TheJournal.ie reports that there could be as many as 50,000 undocumented Irish workers in the United States currently, making up just a fraction of the estimated 11 million undocumented. With no visas, they cannot hold documentation and would not be able to return to the US should they leave.

President Obama made it clear that immigration reform would be a priority for his second term in office during his inauguration speech last month. Reform would entail creating a comprehensive way for illegals to make themselves legal in the US.

Senator John McCain, who ran for president in 2008, is meeting with President Obama this week as part of a bipartisan panel focused on immigration reform. The Senator said that he is “guardedly optimistic” there could be a deal as early as late March.

Responding to a question in the Dáil, Eamon Gilmore said undocumented Irish workers will be a “critical element of the Government’s engagement with the US authorities, including over the forthcoming St Patrick’s Day period.

19 Comments

See all comments

southerner | Feb 27, 2013, 08:56 AM EST

I think we may be missing the point here. Gilmore is coming to visit for Paddy's Day.Its a junket, paid for by irish taxpayers. So to justify it he claims he is on a mission to help Irish 'undocumented'. You can almost hear the sneaky wheels turning, 'that will silence the critics'. It also has the advantage that Pres. Obama has undertaken to take action on the issue. So, if Obama is successful, Gilmore will claim that he put a great effort into fixing the issue!! if this is not true why the sudden rush to get involved in the situation. They are a bunch of self-serving grubby scam artists. It puzzles me why we Irish cannot elect people with some measure if integrity to represent us. It was ever thus.

Report abuse

Smyrnian | Feb 27, 2013, 07:58 AM EST

And the US elected an amateur leader and avowed socialist who engages in frantic borrowing and wealth redistribution via taxation as our now bankrupt country continues to stay afloat with borrowed Chinese money we can't afford to repay. Italy just elected an idiot and France is no better. No country has it together except maybe Iceland. Why single out the Irish?? Agenda at work maybe?

Report abuse

anglo-norman | Feb 26, 2013, 09:48 AM EST

I used to have empathy for the Irish but when they elect clowns like this you can only have disgust. How more STUPID can they get??

Report abuse

johnbyrne | Feb 26, 2013, 09:28 AM EST

PLEASE IGNORE THIS CLOWN AS HE IS LIKELY TO CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS FOR THE ILLEGALS THAN THEY HAVE ALREADY. HE IS JUST PUSHING FOR A U.N.SPOT AS HE WILL BE NEVER AGAIN HEARD OF IN IRISH POLITICS AS SOON AS WE HAVE AN ELECTION.

Report abuse

anglo-norman | Feb 26, 2013, 08:30 AM EST

You cou;ld not make this up!! How stupid this man Gilmore is...

Report abuse

Seanmor | Feb 25, 2013, 09:15 PM EST

The article does not say if Taoiseach Gilmore will include undocumented Irish from north of the Border when he meets with U.S. politicians. Very few undocumented Irish from any part of the homeland entered the U.S. ILLEGALLY and few among these 50,00 undocumented are dependent on government handouts and none have children that need bilingual teachers. We should also bear in mind the countless chousands of Irishmen who HONORABLY served in the U.S. military as Irish ccitizens. Having served 4 years in the Marine Corps before I became 'naturraliz', any credit Ireland deserved for my service belongs to the whole country, not meely to the part of Ireland which Gilmore and his fellow Partitionists misgovern.

Report abuse

olovely | Feb 25, 2013, 09:11 PM EST

Anyone who posts that they don't deserve our support should not be posting on an Irish forum. People like "Paul Hogan"and "Wounded Knee" are a disgrace to their supposed ancestry.

Report abuse

seanmac50 | Feb 25, 2013, 03:54 PM EST

Gilmore, Kenny, and company should first stop the flow of people from Africa and elsewhere coming to Ireland. if that were done perhaps some of the Irish could remain in Ireland

Report abuse

Paul Hogan | Feb 25, 2013, 03:11 PM EST

Send them back to Ireland And let Them Dwaw the Dole

Report abuse

Smyrnian | Feb 25, 2013, 02:05 PM EST

89West - I remember. You are correct.

Report abuse

WoundedKnee | Feb 25, 2013, 02:03 PM EST

This is disgraceful behavior by this jerk Gilmore. Just as his useless "government" (in reality merely EU enforcers in Ireland) is pumping ever more foreign migrants into Ireland, he now is conniving at promoting the emigration of young Irish men and women. What a skunk.

Report abuse

89west | Feb 25, 2013, 01:44 PM EST

For those of you who forget or care not to remember; the Irish enjoyed a very favorable immigration status, that is, before the much touted friends of the Irish, Wobby Kennedy and company changed all that with their immigration reforms of the nineteen-sixties. Remember, one of your own, pulled the welcome mat out from under you.

Report abuse

Rebelforce | Feb 25, 2013, 01:42 PM EST

I guess it makes some kind of sense that the Irish government would want to make it easier for its Irish citizens to emigrate elsewhere while thousands of non-Irish foreign immigrants still flood into Ireland. But to be honest, it still sounds like an Irish joke to me.

Report abuse

saraindc | Feb 25, 2013, 12:56 PM EST

I think we have to be very careful here - the irish are not entitled to special treatment no matter how much they have brought to the USA. The same could be said for those working in the fields reaping crops and keeping the service industry working. Illegal irish cannot be singled out for special treatment just because of our relationship with the USA. Why should they get it any easier than anyone else illegal in the country. The reality is if you overstayed your visa, you broke the law and you can't expect a "by" just becuase of your nationality. The simplest thing is anyone illegal goes to the back of the line and is treated the same as someone new who just got a J1 visa. You then have to find an employer to hire you and keep you on, and offer to sponsor you for a green card and then 5/6 years after all that happens (you're talking 10 years ) you might have some chance of citizenship. If they've been here 10 years already, then they might find they're waiting another 10 years but at least can say they followed the law. There should be nothing sweet about it. Lots of Irish did it the legal way - so should the rest of illegals.!

Report abuse

Nicomax | Feb 25, 2013, 12:51 PM EST

Let's get to the truth on this important issue. In state like Arizona, it's the legals as much as the illegals they are concerned about, no matter that they are doing all those crappy jobs no one else wants to do. Their looks, habits, music, foods, etc. is what bothers them. Now those lovely Irish immigrants are just fine with their pale skins, ginger tops, different, but still nice sounding English. Let them stay and get rid of the others.

Report abuse