http://www.hippopress.com/060316/cover.html

Irish immigration slows
But lure of America still strong
By Will Stewart wstewart@hippopress.com

If, like his wife, Tommy McCarthy had begun the naturalization process prior to Sept. 11, it would probably have taken him a year less to become a full-fledged American citizen.

But the Irish-born entrepreneur was busy opening pubs like The Shaskeen and didn’t get around to starting the process until late 2004 — three years after the country’s immigration and naturalization policies tightened considerably.

McCarthy, who took his citizenship test March 8, is one of countless Irish immigrants who have made their way to the United States. Beginning with the first major wave of Irish immigration brought about by Ireland’s potato famine of the 1840s, Irish citizens have steadily made their way here for more than 150 years. But the trend is now showing signs of decline, even in such Irish strongholds as Boston and Manchester.

As recently as the 1980s and 1990s, which saw the most recent wave of Irish immigration, the lure of America was strong for many Irish, said Ireland native and former Bedford resident Connell Gallagher, publisher of The Irish Emigrant, a weekly newspaper aimed at the Irish immigrant communities in Boston and New York.

At that time, he said, the U.S. economy was booming, the Irish economy was not, and America’s immigration policies were relatively lax, all of which accounted for an Irish influx. But today, just about the opposite is true, leading to a decline in the numbers crossing the Atlantic in search of a better life.

“What’s happened in Ireland over the last 20 years has been nothing short of remarkable,” said Yusaf Akbar, Southern New Hampshire University associate professor of international business. “It’s gone essentially from being one of the poorest countries in western Europe, if not the poorest, to now having income levels in the capital city, Dublin, which are actually higher than London’s.”

These days, Akbar said, Ireland is actually a net recipient of foreign workers — a first for the country.

Still, that’s not to say the United States does not continue to lure immigrants from the Emerald Isle.

“The reason that the Irish continue to come here is that the Americans love them — that’s it. Anything I’ve ever tried to do in business, as soon as I open my mouth and start talking people say ‘oh great, you’re Irish.’ There’s a great welcome for the Irish in America,” McCarthy said.

But unlike McCarthy, not all modern-day Irish immigrants are welcomed with open arms. The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform estimates there are some 40,000 undocumented workers in the United States — Irish citizens who they say are forced to toil in the underground economy just for wanting to make better lives for themselves.

“The immigration policy at present is very draconian,” Gallagher said. “Specifically there are many, many productive people in this country who have contributed greatly who, for whatever reasons, are undocumented, are in effect breaking the law — illegal immigrants — subject to all the penalties that go with it.

“But one can’t disagree, the law is the law. And if you don’t like it, you change it. And a lot needs changing, specifically flexibility when it comes to making available options for normalizing their status, which has become totally removed from immigration policy in the last 20 years.”

Looking to change that, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, which is supported financially by the Irish government, is pushing for the passage of a federal immigration bill sponsored by U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain.

The Kennedy-McCain bill would allow undocumented aliens — Irish or otherwise — in the country on the date of the bill’s introduction last May, provided they pass a background check and pay back taxes for their time here, as well as a $2,000 fine, to obtain a work permit. After six years these immigrants could apply for permanent residency.

The bill would also allow for a temporary worker program for new immigrants to come to the U.S. Further provisions of the bill would strengthen border security and create additional sanctions for employers who hire illegal aliens.

Approximately 2,400 Irish immigrants — nearly half of them from Boston — attended a Capitol Hill rally supporting the bill March 8.