Posted on 03/28/2006 7:01:42 AM PST by MineralMan
AN Oireachtas delegation is on a week-long US visit in a last-ditch lobbying bid for illegal Irish immigrants.
The US Senate will today begin its debate on the first comprehensive rewrite of the country’s immigration laws in a decade.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants staged weekend protests on immigration reform in Los Angeles, Denver and several other cities. A delegation from the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee is today visiting Washington to lobby support for the Kennedy/McCain legislation which would allow illegals to stay in the US and work while applying for a green card and eventual citizenship.
Up to 50,000 Irish people are among the estimated 12 million undocumented people in the US.
Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman and delegation member, Michael D Higgins, said: “The Irish affected are forced to live in the shadows. This means that they run considerable risks of a health, social and economic kind.
“They are not free to return home for family events, births, deaths or funerals, and recent legislation has created new difficulties associated with even possessing a driving licence. The current atmosphere in the United States is such that the Kennedy/McCain legislation will face real difficulties. The delegation is hoping to have a number of meetings which would be helpful in this regard.”
The delegation will meet the newly-formed Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform which has been holding well-attended public meetings in major US cities.
The TDs and Senators will also hold talks organisations providing legal advice and welfare
I'm tempted to say "come home" - after all, this country is lot wealthier than it once was.
How did you guess? LOL
How convenient the dems can trot out this new group of illegals, instead of the ones most Americans are tripping over daily or the ones who like to strap bombs on their babies.
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