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Irish Lobby prepares way for McCain visit to New York
By GERALD MCKINSTRY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: March 26, 2006)


NYACK — Immigration activists are hoping to fashion more awareness before a former presidential candidate comes to the area next week.

Matt Reilly, Fergal Hayes and Paul Keane, are among many residents in the Lower Hudson Valley area who are asking people to support the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform's efforts to change immigration laws. To help do that, they plan to attend the community meeting wearing the group's white and green T-shirt that says "LegalizeTheIrish.org."

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform is sponsoring a town hall-style meeting with U.S. Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, who will be in the area to discuss a reform bill that he co-sponsored with Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.

The forum will take place at 5:30 p.m. Friday at St. Barnabas High School auditorium, 425 E. 240th St., in the Bronx near the Yonkers border.

"I think people who are undocumented need to have a voice," said Hayes, a Nanuet man who owns O'Malley's Pub in Nyack with Keane. "I'd like to see this bill passed."

O'Malley's is one of several locations in the tri-state area selling the $10 shirt for the Irish lobby group. Proceeds go toward its efforts to get this law passed.

Kelly Fincham, executive director of the group, said the movement has grown since its first January meeting at Rory Dolans in Yonkers.

"In less than three months, we've gone around the country, and we're bringing back Sen. McCain," Fincham said Friday. "This really is an opportunity for people to come out and ask the chief architect questions about this legislation."

The Town Hall meeting is one of several means of raising awareness for this issue. Earlier this month, close to 3,000 people convened on the nation's capital to lobby congressional leaders on this bill.

"It's going very well, but we still need to keep the push on," said Reilly, a resident of Blauvelt, who was one of about 50 people from Rockland to go to Washington, D.C. "This McCain-Kennedy bill is a bill worth fighting for."

There are no official statistics on the number of illegal immigrants in the United States, but estimates range from 6 million to 11 million. It is estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 are from Ireland in the country.

Although the bill affects all immigrants, the Irish community has been very vocal.

"On this particular bill, the Irish are setting the pace," Reilly said.

If it's passed, the bill would enable many undocumented workers to register with the Department of Homeland Security, pay a $2,000 fine and be eligible for a work permit.

A person would then have to commit to working for six years, pay taxes —including back taxes — and then would be eligible to apply for permanent residency.

Other stipulations in the bill propose a temporary worker program, increased border security and penalties for hiring illegal aliens. It would also require foreign governments to help control the migration of people to the U.S.

There is competing bill sponsored by Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona. It would allow immigrants a two-year visa that would be renewable no more than three times, but would require undocumented immigrants already in this country to return to their home countries within five years to qualify for new visas. The bill bars temporary workers from seeking permanent residency while in the U.S.

Local immigration advocates prefer the Kennedy-McCain bill because it allows undocumented immigrants who qualify to eventually get a green card.

"The Kennedy-McCain bill is the only bill that will give them a path toward a green card," Fincham said. "It would fix a broken immigration system."