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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Real hope at last for immigration reform for Irish - Senator Schumer bill to highlight case for work visas

Posted on Monday, December 12, 2011 at 07:31 AM

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Sen. Charles Schumer

There is hope at last that Irish people may be able to emigrate legally to the United States in the coming years.

Tomorrow, Senator Charles Schumer of New York will introduce a bill which will allow up to 10,000 Irish a year to come and work legally in the United States, though not receive green cards.

The visa plan is based on an Australian visa program that allows natives to come to America and indefinitely renew a work visa for them and their spouses.

Schumer made the promise to introduce the E-3 program, as it is known, to a group of Irish American leaders who met with him on Friday.

I was one of the people present, and we all realized that this bill would be a major step in the right direction.

It came about because other countries – China, Mexico, India and the Philippines – have received special consideration for a new visa program, while the Irish were left off the list.

That angered Irish community leaders, and Schumer has now stepped up to the plate to try and deliver.

There is no guarantee, though, that the bill will be successful, but it is a very important first step, the first time since the Morrison and Donnelly visa programs that a bill to help the Irish legally live in America has been put forward.

According to Bart Murphy, head of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, the bill is a huge step in the right direction.

“It finally brings a focus to all of our efforts, and I believe it may well prove successful, thanks to Senator Schumer,” Murphy said.

If the bill for the other countries passes, Schumer is hoping that the Irish E-3 visas can be attached to it.

If the bill does not pass, or if it is not possible to attach the E-3 visas, then he has promised early in 2012 to create another vehicle to help the Irish.

On the face of it, the new visa, if passed, would not immediately help the Irish undocumented now resident in the U.S.

But if a waiver rule can be applied as has happened in Mexico, where the local U.S. consulate allows those who have lived illegally in America to apply for visas, then it could make a huge difference.

So the news on the immigration front is encouraging at last . . . but we have been here before on many other occasions.

A few years back, it seemed certain that a bill sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator John McCain would pass, but it fell apart at the last minute.

There have been many other false dawns, but the Irish community has never given up on the idea of immigration reform, and they are not likely to now.

Senator Schumer is one of the most powerful men in U.S. politics, with an Irish chief of staff, Martin Brennan, whose folks hail from Co. Mayo. Having him on the side of the Irish is a huge step forward in the right direction.

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Seanmor | Dec 08, 2012, 03:48 PM EST

It is very unfair to classify English-speaking immigrants who legally entered the U.S. but remained after their visas expired with non-English speakers who 'broke in' here without the knowledge and consent of the U.S. authorities and avail themselves of many benefits at the expense of the U.S paxpayers. A guest who entered my home with my permission but overstayed his welcome is still more acceptable than a stranger who forced him way in and helps himself to what he can find in my home.

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kaydog1 | Dec 22, 2011, 02:28 AM EST

I have to agree with IRISHCOFFEEKID. If this applies to current Irish illegals, it will solve nothing. Our currnet illegal Irish could snap up 10,000 permits a year for decades to come, leaving nothing for those still in Ireland, and exposing their illegal identies to ICE in the process. Additionally, those waiting will see illegals getting amnestied, and will have that much less incentive to wait and abide by the legal process. This is just Chuck Schumer trolling for the Irish vote - it solves NOTHING for the Irish.

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ciaradexy | Dec 18, 2011, 02:40 PM EST

If someone is illegally in a country, they should be deported, end of story. If people legally enter a country and contribute then fine but the rest need to go. joycean-youre right, irish and Irish-Americans are very different. In my experience, any irish americans Ive met who think of themselves as irish are quite like how I imagine the irish might have been a hundred years ago.

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joycean | Dec 14, 2011, 09:44 PM EST

McNamara,I think you are wrong about labelling me as an "ugly American." The term comes from a 1950s novel about American businessmen who didn't understand Mideastern culture when they were sent overseas and made cultural mistakes. I am not in Ireland, doing things that are culturally uncceptable. I am in my own country, so I am entitled to my opinions of the Irish here.BTW,three of my grandparents were born in Ireland and emigrated to the US around 1900. The fourth was a Canadian of Irish parents. I grew up in Boston's Irish neighborhoods. I've been to Ireland a number of times, and so have other members of my family, several of whom have also expressed reservations about Ireland. I have a huge number of relatives in Ireland, America, and Canada. Some keep in touch and we work on family geneology.

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joycean | Dec 14, 2011, 08:04 PM EST

TiocfaidhArmani,You may be a lovely person. My point is that Americans of Irish descent like myself, may have a romantic view of Ireland,seeing ourselves as "Irish" because our parents and grandparents were.But when I was in Ireland a year ago, I found myself snapped at for calling myself an Irish-American. That and a few other hostile encounterrs made me do some serious research into Irish attitudes toward Americans. It led me to conclude that Irish and Americans have very different world views.

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irishcoffeekid | Dec 14, 2011, 03:20 PM EST

and i should add, i spent 7 years applying for the Green Card Lottery before I finally got selected for it in 2005 so I waiting a long time to come to the USA legally and get a job here legally. I know people who have friends and family here illegally who feel like they're trapped in a system they can't risk getting out of or they lose the life they have but having had to wait it out for 7 years, I feel equally strongly for those who do try to do it the legal way and not come until they have the right to!

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irishcoffeekid | Dec 14, 2011, 03:18 PM EST

This isnt going to solve anything - all its going to do is raise more issues between the undocumented Irish in the USA and the Irish in Ireland who legally want to come to work in the USA. The system if flawed to begin with. This law suggested that the "undocumented" can qualify for it or at least apply. Seriously, if someone has been living here in the USA for YEARS without a visa or work permit, do you honestly think they're going to crawl out of the woodwork on a whim of a chance of getting this visa. Not a chance. they know full well if they do, its the US immigrations and Homesland Security way of seeking and finding illegals and if you dont win it you're on the first flight back to ireland. Likewise if i was still living in Ireland and trying to get to the USA legally with a work permit and I see them giving these to the Irish in the USA who have knowingly broken the law by overstaying their visitor visas or work permits and continue living here illegally, wouldnt you be ticked that you try to do it legal but the ones who win are the illegals - whats warped about that!!!!! They need to separate the two - the illegal Irish in the USA have to be treated completely separately from those in Ireland who LEGALLY want to come to the USA - it shouldnt be one opportunity - handle it separately, its unfair to those who follow the law to have a bias towards those who break it. The illegal issue is a separate issue!

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McNamara31 | Dec 14, 2011, 11:45 AM EST

Yikes! These comments…..I've spent time in both countries and know there are good and bad in every group and to generalize as some of these posts do falls into the category of the ugly American more than anything else. Globally people respond to how they are treated. When I read “leave the Irish out” and “ignorant nostalgic people” or “try so hard to be either trendy English or Americans” I realize that people die off but the thoughts that met the Irish when they arrived in the states in the mid 1800’s are still here just the faces and the labels have changed. Now it’s fragmented down to Irish vs. Irish American. I’m glad that this new generation of Irish can now work in the states in a legal way and not have to worry any longer about their status. America benefited greatly from past immigration and it will benefit again from this new generation of Irish. Welcome.

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TiocfaidhArmani | Dec 14, 2011, 11:29 AM EST

Sorry I'm Irish born and bred and while there is a few ignorant people don't lump us all in the one basket. There's some Americans who see Ireland as a nation of drunk and wife beaters, that doesn't mean you all think it. Cop on, Joycean.

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ancavker | Dec 14, 2011, 10:33 AM EST

joycean: We Irish_Americans don't care what the Irish call us, or not. And we certainly do not need their permission to call ourselves Irish. One could argue that many of the Irish should not call themselves Irish, as they try so hard to be either trendy English or Americans, or fashionable sophisticated continental Europeans.

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joycean | Dec 13, 2011, 07:09 PM EST

McNamara, I'm probably as Irish as you are.

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McNamara31 | Dec 13, 2011, 06:45 PM EST

joycean... Based on your negative feeling about the Irish why in the world would you seek community or be a participant on IC?

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joycean | Dec 13, 2011, 12:33 PM EST

Hopefully this will go nowhere. Considering how anti-American the Irish are and the willingness of some of them to come to this country against our laws, I'd say offer work visas to our friends, like the Aussies, and leave the Irish out.The only people who would support this are ignorant nostalgic people who call themselves "Irish-Americans," not realizing the Irish wouldn't allow them to call themselves that. To the Irish, those people are just Americans.

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RealIrish2010 | Dec 12, 2011, 08:53 AM EST

fingers crossed lads

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