Thread: 'Disappointment' for undocumented Irish as US Bill collapses

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.a ... =y78694z48

'Disappointment' for undocumented Irish as US Bill collapses
07/04/2006 - 19:43:28

The collapse of a deal which would have helped the undocumented Irish in the US is “a sharp disappointment”, Fine Gael said tonight.

The compromise deal between the Republican and Democratic parties fell through after failing to clear a procedural hurdle in a sharply divided US Senate.

Fine Gael Foreign Affairs spokesman Bernard Allen said the announcement of a deal of immigration reforms yesterday had been a ray of hope for the undocumented Irish in the United States.

“However, the collapse of this accord is a sharp disappointment for the undocumented Irish, and their families at home,” he said.

The Bill would have created a temporary worker programme, as proposed by President George Bush, and opened the way for more than seven million illegal immigrants, including an estimated 30,000 Irish people, to become US citizens.

When the Bill fell 22 votes short of the 60 needed in the 100-member Senate to move forward, both Democrats and Republicans blamed each other.

Mr Allen said the Government had to redouble its efforts to get a new agreement between the two sides during the US Senate recess, which runs until April 20.

“I hope that the Senate recess will give both sides the opportunity to cool off, and to reflect on the vital importance of these legislative proposals,” he said.

http://www.ireland.com

Hopes fade for Irish illegals as US senate deal stalls


Tens of thousands of undocumented Irish immigrants in America have seen hopes of an early change in their legal status slip away as a senate deal on immigration reform collapsed yesterday, writes Denis Staunton in Washington.

Hours after Republicans and Democrats said they had agreed a compromise that would give most of America's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants the chance to become US citizens, the agreement unravelled amid acrimonious exchanges.


The senate adjourned yesterday for a two-week recess but it could be months before immigration returns to its agenda and some senators said it was now unlikely that any reform will be approved this year.

"All through the day yesterday people were calling me literally in tears. They were so happy that finally they felt they were going to be able to travel to Ireland, to get a driver's licence and live like normal people. That was then taken away from them, which was a shattering experience," Niall O'Dowd, chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, told The Irish Times.

Republicans blamed Democrats for not allowing the senate to consider amendments to the reform bill agreed on Thursday but Democrats said conservative Republicans were trying to filibuster.

Republican senator John McCain, who co-sponsored with Democrat Edward Kennedy the bill that formed the basis of Thursday's deal, said there were enough votes to defeat the conservative amendments.

"There is no amendment that could pass . . . The Democrats obviously feel this is some sort of political advantage. Nobody has ever seen a major piece of legislation on the floor like this without any amendments . . . It is a disgrace," he said.

Democratic senate leader Harry Reid said the Republican amendments were designed to drag out the debate so that no immigration bill would be passed.

"The amendments were being offered by people who didn't want the bill. The majority must explain to the American people why they are permitting a filibuster of immigration, a filibuster by amendment," he said.

The proposal that was shelved yesterday would have introduced the most sweeping reform of America's immigration laws for two decades, strengthening security along the border with Mexico but giving most illegal immigrants a chance to regularise their legal status.

Undocumented immigrants in the US for more than five years would have been able to stay and earn citizenship if they paid a $2,000 (€1,642) fine, settled all back taxes and stayed in work for 11 years.

Those who had been in the US for less than five years, but more than two, would have had three years to apply for a temporary work visa, which they would have to retrieve at an official point of entry outside the US. After that time, they would be eligible for a green card and could apply for citizenship.

Those in the US for less than two years would have had to return home and go through normal channels if they wanted to return to the US.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will resume discussion of the immigration bill on April 27th, but it is not clear when the issue will return to the senate floor.

In Los Angeles last week, 500,000 people demonstrated in support of immigrants in a march that was bigger than any civil rights or Vietnam War protest during the 1960s and 1970s. Millions of people are expected to take part in pro-immigrant rallies in more than 60 American cities next Monday, a day of action Mr O'Dowd described as very important.

"I expect there will be massive numbers at that . . . Nobody can walk away from the fact that there are 11 million undocumented immigrants in America," he said.

"All through the day yesterday people were calling me literally in tears. They were so happy that finally they felt they were going to be able to travel to Ireland, to get a driver's licence and live like normal people. That was then taken away from them, which was a shattering experience,"

nobody's telling them they can't travel to Ireland, in fact it's just the opposite.

I'm really starting to get ticked off -- where is all the sympathy for the American people? Why isn't Congress more concerned about the VICTIMS of hurricane Ivan, Katrina and Rita? -- there are American citizens living in tents!

And I'm getting kinda tired of seeing blue tarps on roofs and houses with holes in the roof and the sides. Everytime I see a house that has holes I think of the resident not being able to keep the house heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. Then I think about the toxic mold that grows because of the water damage and moisture -- toxic mold that can kill you.


A couple of weeks agon, the governors of four coastal states went to Congress to request more federal funding for hurricane victims -- the governors of these states had to lobby Congress for their citizens!!!!

That's for sure. I have never been more ashamed. There's trailers sitting un-used and rotting, not to mention a HOST of other things. How our Government has delt with a crisis with our own citizens is unacceptable.

Everytime I read one of the poor illegal Irish stories I go NUTZ!

What the hell is wrong with Ireland? Nothing. Go back home. In fact my fathers side of the family is Irish and I have even thought of moving to Ireland myself, but guess what? Thier immigration laws are VERY strict!

Sorry.....but it upsets me. A tradegy hits another country and we're right there. But on our own land with our own people....it's a joke.
Just goes to show that homeland security or anything else is a joke. Reminds me of now.........FIRE<<FIRE and we all have to discuss whether we should put it out or not.??? By thimble or bucket or hose? Do we have to make it fair and play odd and even numbers or boy girl, boy girl, or black, white, hispanic,korean, chinese, german. french, english,russian......etc. Makes me ill.

I believe the President and Congress thought the American people would just sit back and do nothing. Now that Americans are fighting back, I'm sure they are embarassed. To the world they couldn't handle a natural disaster, they couldn't control enforce immigration, they can't 'handle' their people, and they are creating a man-made disaster.

They're solution to ILLEGAL 'immigration' --- make everybody legal and grant citizenship.

Legalize drugs and they could empty our prisons.