Obama's immigration move on Hispanic illegals will help Irish undocumented - Long term strategy needed more than ever
irishcentral.com
by Patrick Roberts
Posted on Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 03:18 PM

Irish undocumented should breathe a sigh of relief with the Obama administration decision not to deport non-criminal aliens.

117 Irish were deported in 2009 the last year that figures are available for. It is not known how many of those were non-criminal aliens, but my hunch it would that the vast majority would be.

Spurned lovers and jealous work acquaintances were the two top factors behind Irish deportations I understand.

Under the new rules such people would not longer be deported but left in limbo.

The Obama administration move is an attempt to shore up his faltering support from Hispanics who backed him in huge numbers but who have become disillusioned over the past few two years as Obama has failed to address their issues.

Lacking the votes in Congress, Obama has now done the next best thing and ordered a policy of actively working on cases involving criminal deportations and leaving other cases in limbo.

Limbo is better than a plane ride back for most undocumented I suspect, yet it too is not satisfactory in the long run.

Republicans will try and use it as a wedge issue in the election, but they need to be careful in case they come across as anti-immigrant generally and anti Hispanic specifically.

Irish in American can now move about with greater ease in the knowledge they are unlikely to be deported if caught, but it is hardly ideal for them either.

What is needed is a long term immigration fix with both Republicans and Democrat agreeing on a strategy, creating a far more cohesive policy both about aliens already here and future flow.

Obama may well have moved the ball in this direction so it is certainly a good development.

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