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People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

U.S. the land of no return for many immigrants who went back to Ireland

Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 03:09 PM

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20 Comments

Ok last time I explain what was said, and by the way Wounded Knee, you are no better than GD. You are always on Irish Central way too quick to comment on things you know nothing about. So here goes, if you go back to Gd's orignal comment he mentioned that the Irish were giving away his Birthright(the birthright bring Ireland)to foreigners and I quote again,"And then there's the extra element in the case of Ireland; these people are abandoning their country and essentially handing it over to settlers from China, India, Africa, Bulgaria etc. As an Irish-American, I feel I have a stake in that country too. But the Irish are pretty dumb and selfish" End quote. I was being sarcastic when I said "dirty Foreigners" because he was indicating that they are unwelcome to "his" land. If you or GD do not understand what I said or the way I said it then that is not my problem. By the way if you and I were up on stage "debating" I would have you in tears and the crowd in stitches.

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WoundedKnee | Jan 28, 2011, 05:07 AM EST

cuculin--As far as I can see GD didn´t use that "dirty foreigners" phrase. You did. Why? It´s very inappropriate hate-filled language. Why do the Irish all resort so quickly to abuse and insult? Don´t you have any Debating Club in the schools?

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cuculin | Jan 24, 2011, 11:20 AM EST

Again George Dillion your a blind tool. For everbody here who wants to understand our agro go back and read his first few posts. I wasn't calling them "dirty foreigners" I was referring to the comment you made in your post, and I quote" And then there's the extra element in the case of Ireland; these people are abandoning their country and essentially handing it over to settlers from China, India, Africa, Bulgaria etc. As an Irish-American, I feel I have a stake in that country too" . Now you are trying to twist what I said, not going to happen you tool. You were making it out liek the Stupid poor dumb Irish are handing over their Country to foreigners which they are not, and you my dozy word twisting friend have no stake in My Country whatsoever. No more or less at least than anybody else from any country. I welcome investment, no matter where it comes from.

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CitizenWhy | Jan 24, 2011, 10:15 AM EST

Very foolish to get a green card and not follow through to US citizenship. My own grandfather, after becoming a US citizen, returned to Ireland. He liked refusing to take any oath to the Crown because he was an American citizen. A number of my ancestors did the same.

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Lillywhite | Jan 22, 2011, 10:05 AM EST

Hi All,came to America in 1992 on business for a British company for 6 weeks. Took me 4 years of applying for the AA1 visa/green card. Won it in 1993 and applied for my citizenship 5 years later. Going through immigration during business travel always gave me the motivation to apply for citizenship. I knew that Ireland's manufacturing base would not be sustainable long term.It was the same in my father's time when foreign companies would employ people as long as the tax rates and exchange rates were favorable. America and Americans have always treated me with respect. I have lived in Michigan,Illinois and Tennessee working as an engineer in the auto business. Never had any issues.God bless the USA,it may not be perfect, but it is wonderful to be part of it.My family are all in Ireland and have been badly been hit with property price decline. It is not all bad though, Ireland and EU's grant system allowed for me to attend an Irish Technical College and set me up for life. So hat's off to that. Unfortunately the law is the law where ever you live. I made it a priority to get my citizenship immediately after the min. time required. It took filling out the typical government forms and waiting...waiting...waiting... but eventually came through. Cheers. TPD

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rexnine | Jan 22, 2011, 12:49 AM EST

I guess you failed to realize how lucky you were to get that green card to begin with? I know a few Guatemalans who the Mexican officials shuffled through on the train heading north that wouldn't make that mistake!

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rexnine | Jan 22, 2011, 12:00 AM EST

Didn't you have to make some kind of declaration of intent of patriotism to the U.S. to get your green card to begin with? Then you left! And now you Can't to understand WHy we wont take you back , After you lied?? Are you kidding me??

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amkilshane | Jan 21, 2011, 05:54 PM EST

People should not give up on these green cards being abandoned so fast. I have heard of people being outside the US for more than a year and still manage to come and go and renew their green card.This place is full of illegal mexicans who they treat with double standards.Ireland is going through hard times right now and I think more Irish should be allowed to come here.

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maloney | Jan 21, 2011, 05:38 PM EST

Immigration should be legal or not at all. Many more Irish would be able to come & the rules wouldn't be so harsh if it weren't for the flood of illegals coming across our southern border. Put the blame where it belongs. On the illegals & the businesses who want cheap labor. The old "they only take jobs the Americans don't want" is bull. They work under the table while on the dole at the same time. The main problem with both countries are the governments.

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GeorgeDillon | Jan 21, 2011, 02:06 AM EST

cuculin: Idiotic response. Nowhere are you capable of responding to my point, which is why Ireland is importing tens of thousands of foreign workers while the locals say they can't find work. And your disgusting reference to "the dirty foreigners" should get you banned. Did it ever occur to you the Irish illegal aliens in the US are just as much "dirty foreigners" here in the US? Idiot.

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TaranOconner | Jan 21, 2011, 01:16 AM EST

Antoman= Middle America (in my opinion) would welcome Irish Businesses! We are sick to the teeth of Illegal Mexicans and Middle Easterners that 'legally' settle and then 'sponsor' more to come over. The businesses employees all talk about the American customers in their native languages in a disparaging way and think we don't know it. You can hardly get a decent meal from an English Speaking Restaurant unless it is a small Mom & Pop place.

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jamieLM | Jan 20, 2011, 06:47 PM EST

Antoman, I know a middle-aged Irishman who moved into a hot-spot tourist town in the Midwest and opened a cafe and a small hotel. The community is not particularly Irish - more German/English. The townspeople think he's great and so do the thousands of tourists that stream through there throughout the year. People go looking for him just to "chat him up." He's like a celebrity and business is very good for him. (The food is excellent at his cafe!) This is just one example, but I'd say that, in general, Americans welcome the Irish - at least in the Midwest.

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jonycakes | Jan 20, 2011, 05:46 PM EST

GeorgeDillon you are right. The Irish can't be treated as a special case. What about all the other ethnic groups like Chinese, Africans, Latin Americans, Europeans who want to immigrate here legally but can't, don't they deserve a break as well? Those who lived here illegally that are now unable to return are paying the price for breaking our immigration laws. No one forced them to immigrate illegally and no one forced them to leave. Tough but thats life.

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manhattan | Jan 20, 2011, 05:35 PM EST

Antoman, I'm so sorry you have to ask if we Americans resent the Irish living among us. Sometimes cruel things are said on this site but I don't know anyone who wouldn't want to live among the Irish. They are honest, hardworking and fun to be around. Our ancestors took enough grief for being Irish so lets not do that to our own people.

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cuculin | Jan 20, 2011, 03:40 PM EST

George Dillion , then why don't you take your plastic Paddy ass back to Ireland, ( I recommend Killarney as I am from there)and set up a company and bring your far superior Irish-American knowledge back to the Dumb Irish that are still left over there. Who knows maybe you can finds jobs and money for 20-30-40-100k people and feed all their families and educate these poor poor dumb Irish so as to stop them giving your country away to the dirty foreigners. One has to also ask if your family never left then you wouldn’t have been born, which might not be a bad thing since all I ever read on here from you is tripe. Your an Amadan plain and simple. I keeping saying this to you people, mind your own backyard, it is a changing fast.

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