Irish in New York react cautiously to new visa bill

Bill is said to only fix part of the problem

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MOLLY MULDOON,

Irish Voice Reporter

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Last week saw the introduction of two bills to the Senate which could potentially allow 10,000 Irish to come to America every year and obtain work visas.

When Dubliner Clare, 40, heard the news last Tuesday that New York Senator Charles Schumer had introduced a new bill to the Senate, she was elated. Finally, this could be her path to gaining legal status after 12 years of undocumented existence in New York.

“I can only hope that they do the right thing for the Irish,” she told the Irish Voice.

Schumer’s bill is based on the E-3 program which is currently offered to Australian citizens. It would offer 10,000 Irish citizens the chance to obtain work visas. If it is passed as is, it would allow for undocumented Irish to apply for a waiver of inadmissibility through the new E-3 program.

Delaney married an Irishman and the couple reside in Queens. For both of them, the passage of the bill is extremely important.

“I've spent most of my adult life here, my roots are here now,” she reflects.

“I've heard people in the Irish community talking about it because it’s the first positive thing that has happened for the Irish community on this front in a long time.”

Last Friday, Senate Republicans responded with a bill of their own, when Senators Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Mark Kirk of Illinois introduced the Irish Immigration Reform and Encouragement Act of 2011. However, there is no waiver for the undocumented in their bill.

“It fixes part if the problem, but is doesn’t fix all of the problem,” Siobhan Dennehy, executive director of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, told the Irish Voice from her Woodside office.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty about where the bill is heading.  Every scenario is different for each applicant, but for fixing future flow it definitely solves the problem.”

When Patrice, 25, heard the news, she admits she was confused. Living here illegally for over five years, the young woman is actively seeking a way to retain legal status.

“As regards to what the bill meant for anyone living illegally out here it was very cryptic,” she said.

“All I knew was that it was a new bill but there was no information as it to how it was going to benefit anyone living out here illegally.

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Read More:

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“I have spoken to someone that has a better understanding about what the bill is proposing and now I have a little more knowledge,” she admitted.

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