RSS
News


Home Page > News > Irish pack out immigration meeting in New York

Blogs


comment on article Make a comment
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

Irish pack out immigration meeting in New York

New arrivals add to undocumented Irish issue

By
APRIL DREW,
IrishCentral.Com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 12:35 PM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 5:42 PM

 

Bookmark and Share

The huge crowd at the ILIR meeting
The huge crowd at the ILIR meeting
Photo by Nuala Purcell

Pictures from the meeting: Click Here

THERE was standing room only at Rory Dolan’s Irish restaurant in Yonkers on Wednesday, May 6, as the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) held a public meeting to inform the undocumented and their supporters about actions being taken on their behalf.

Over 500 young Irish undocumented – many of them recent arrivals to the U.S, due to the economic downturn in Ireland -- many green card holders and many Irish Americans packed into the function room of the Irish establishment on McLean Avenue to hear from the ILIR committee and the group’s lobbyist in Washington, D.C., former Congressman Bruce Morrison.

“There’s nothing going on in Ireland anymore.  There are no jobs,” said Alan, 25, a native of Co. Limerick who has been working in New York for the past four months.

“They say things are bad here, but I’ve still managed to find construction work.  Not a hope of that in Ireland. There will be plenty more Irish coming over here very soon because it’s so bad.  I hope ILIR is able to do something for them, and me.”

Morrison, a co-sponsor of the Immigration Act of 1990, which enabled tens of thousands of Irish people to obtain green cards through his Morrison visa program, outlined in detail a new visa the ILIR and the Irish government have been working on.

The visa, an E-3 visa, would open the doors to legal immigration from Ireland for once and for all, explained Morrison.

The proposed E-3 visa, albeit a visa that would not directly solve the issue of the undocumented Irish currently in the U.S, is based on the model that Australia used to obtain visas for their citizens in recent years.

“Australia went first and asked for it, and now we are next to ask,” said Morrison.
Although similar to the Australian deal, Morrison said one of the significant differences between the visas would be the ILIR is looking to bring down the education qualification requirement to a high school diploma or trade experience.

 “We need a permanent solution once and for all,” said Morrison. “Irish people are always going to come to America … and the E3 is about a way to the future.”

1 2 3 4 Next page >
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


Be the first to make a comment.

It may take several minutes for your comment to appear.


Click to learn more from DiscoverIreland.com.
IrishCentral Mobile QR code


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password