Thread: Got their Irish up

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/s ... 4908c.html

Got their Irish up

McCain reform gets backing of immigrants

BY LESLIE CASIMIR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

In the three years he has lived in this country, Ireland native Stephen McAlinden has missed the funerals of his two grandmothers and an aunt.
His plight is shared by millions of fellow undocumented workers who have made new lives for themselves here by overstaying visas or tourist permits. They can leave anytime, but if they try to return, they'll be red-flagged and barred from returning to their adopted homeland.

"You can't go back home - that's the hardest part about living here," said the 31-year-old carpenter who lives in Woodside, Queens, a once predominantly Irish neighborhood. "You're stuck."

McAlinden and others are pinning their hopes on legislation proposed by Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who vied for President in 2000 and could run again in 2008. McCain's bill would eventually legalize as many as 11million undocumented residents and implement a guest-worker program.

"We need to have this debate among the American people," McCain said during a telephone conference with reporters last week. "This is a compelling issue."

Today at 5 p.m., the senator will hold a rare town hall meeting at 101 Sixth Ave. in SoHo to galvanize his supporters. The move comes as the Senate prepares todiscuss next month whether to legalize undocumented immigrants, issue them temporary work permits or simply boot them.

Niall O'Dowd, publisher of the Irish Voice newspaper and chairman of the new Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform movement, said tighter security measures following 9/11 are pushing many of the estimated 40,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S. out of the country.

"The Irish neighborhoods are dying - we're in great danger of losing one of the great ethnic inspirations in New York," O'Dowd said. "And we can either cry into our beers or we can do something about it."

O'Dowd said his group which isplanning a march in Washington on March 8, has the political muscle to make its case heard in the capital.

Still, McCain and his Democratic co-sponsor, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, face an uphill battle. Last year, the House passed a bill that would criminalize illegal immigrants and build more fences along the U.S. border. President Bush has been pushing for a temporary worker program that would allow foreigners to work here - but for a limited time.

"It's hard to see how you can reconcile what the Senate is likely to do and what the House has done," said Steven Camarota, research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that promotes tighter immigration laws. "My guess is we won't see a major change this year."

Originally published on February 27, 2006

Niall O'Dowd, publisher of the Irish Voice newspaper and chairman of the new Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform movement, said tighter security measures following 9/11 are pushing many of the estimated 40,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S. out of the country.

Well the way I figure it. It will only take 10 trips aboard the Queen Mary II. Then they will be home where they belong.

"My guess is we won't see a major change this year."

We'll see in November won't we?