Posted on 02/23/2006 11:56:18 AM PST by Sharks
Rallying under the slogan “No Paddy Left Behind,” about 900 Irish and Irish-Americans packed a town hall meeting in Woodside on immigration reform Friday evening. Speakers urged the audience, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, to call their elected officials in support of the Kennedy-McCain immigration reform bill. Currently before the Senate, the measure would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States and earn a chance to apply for permanent residency. An alternative bill that already passed the House of Representatives would turn the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants into criminals, subject to arrest by local authorities. “If you are an undocumented immigrant in the United States, at the moment you have two choices: You can either stay put and hide, or you can lose everything you have,” said Kelly Fincham, executive directors of the newly formed Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, which organized the meeting at St. Mary’s Help of Christians Catholic Church. Fincham urged those in attendance, even ones who cannot vote, to call or e-mail their U.S. senators and representatives and ask them to vote for the Kennedy-McCain bill. “Do you really want your future to be decided behind closed doors in Washington, or do you want to have a voice?” she asked. An early indicator of the success of her group, formed in December, was the attendance of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who received a standing ovation after addressing the Friday meeting. “If we were to cut off immigration in this country within two, three or four generations, we would become a tired, stagnant, stratified society,” he said. New York “is a special place because of immigration and the worst we could do is close the door,” he added. Other speakers at the meeting urged audience members to sign up and bring their friends to a March 8 bus trip to lobby Congress in Washington, D.C. Groups from cities such as Boston will also be bused in. “This is about living a normal life without fear so you can go and enjoy life in the greatest country on earth,” said Naill O’Doud, chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Congress is expected to pass sweeping immigration reform legislation later this year affecting America’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, of whom around 40,000 are Irish. One version, which already passed the House of Representatives, is an “enforcement only” bill sponsored by Representatives James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.). Known as the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act, the measure makes it harder for legal permanent residents to become U.S. citizens by allowing government officials to deny naturalization applications based on subjective information or secret evidence. The measure intensifies sanctions against employers who hire undocumented immigrants and requires them to confirm the authenticity of their workers’ Social Security numbers. It gives local police the power to enforce immigration laws and penalizes states and cities that protect confidentiality of immigrant crime victims and witnesses. Other provisions would make drunken driving a deportable offense and mandate the construction of five double-layer border fences at a cost of $3.2 million per mile. The Kennedy-McCain bill, known as the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, was introduced before the Senate last year by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). The measure would permit undocumented or “illegal” immigrants currently living in America to obtain work visas for up to six years. They could apply for permanent residency after paying fines, passing a background check and completing a period under a temporary visa. The bill would also create a new path to legal immigration through a temporary worker program. Undocumented Irish immigrants present at the meeting said current laws prevent them from returning home to visit family. They pay taxes, but cannot apply for health insurance or open bank accounts, much less obtain a driver’s license. One had a nursing degree from a local university but could not work as a nurse because she had overstayed her visa. Another told similar stories of friends who had advanced degrees but could only find work as laborers. “You’re nervous all the time. You’re always looking over your shoulder,” he said. For more information on the March 8 bus trip to Washington, D.C., call (718) 821 4964, e-mail signup@irishlobbyusa.org, or log on at www.irishlobbyusa.org.
If they're here illegally send them home, I don't care where home is!
Agreed.
Get in line like everyone else...unless you're female and closely resemble one of the Corrs sisters. Then we can talk about exceptions to the rule.
The presence of a good-sized number of Irish illegals here is an old story.
It wouldn't turn them into anything.
They turn themselves into criminals the moment they illegally cross the border.
So9
They need to leave and come back legally. I'm so sick of reading about these damn meetings. Why the hell isn't there an ICE bus waiting around the corner to load these illegals up?
Heck, I thought even the bartenders went back to Ireland by now.
The Irish! Wading across our borders again! :-)
How exactly do illegal immigrants elect people?
This pisses me off so much. When all is said and done Mr. elc (who is from Northern Ireland) and his employer will have spent about $8,000 for him to come here legally and get a green card.
And these illegals will have to pay about a $2000 fine to become legal.
I'm going to start sending letters to Teddy demanding some reimbursement.
Nice point!
I thought the term "Paddy" was a racial slur..There was a huge rally in Boston . They are all planning a bus trip down to DC for a large rally. I say stop all the buses and round them all up. If they can't follow the law as my grandparents did back in the twenties DEPORT THEM.
What's Irish and lives out on your back porch in all kinds of weather?
Paddy O'Furniture
Dead people do it all the time. To stop illegal voting by the living is discriminatory and probably qualifies as a hate crime.
Which means you'll never vote again yourself until you assume room temperature.
I have a friend who used to work in the Public Affairs office of the INS.
He said once a week or so, somebody would come in with a thick foreign accent and announce that they were here illegally and would like to be sent home.
He said they just took their name, chased them out of the office, then threw the name in the garbage. There was no point in having taxpayers pay half their roundtrip fare for a visit to the old country.
Anything Kennedy and McLame are for, I'm against.
Yes, it's an old story and the illegal Irish are still here. Why?
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