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Rally for immigration reform scheduled Wednesday
By GERALD MCKINSTRY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: March 4, 2006)


BLAUVELT — An Orangetown activist who is heading to Washington next week wants congressional leaders to accelerate green card reform.

And he won't be alone.

Matt Reilly of Blauvelt said he expected hundreds of Rockland and Westchester residents to be among the thousands from across the country to voice support for the Kennedy-McCain bill, legislation that would provide legal status for undocumented people already in the United States.

Wednesday's rally is organized by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. The New York-based group has buses leaving from the Bronx, Queens, Yonkers and Rockland. Other buses are leaving from Boston, Stamford, and Philadelphia.

The Rockland contingent is leaving at 4 a.m. Wednesday from the Irish American Cultural Center in Blauvelt, Reilly said.

"It's a must that we get this bill passed. There are too many people living on the edge," Reilly said recently, citing how a scam last year targeted the Irish community and forced many undocumented people to lose thousands of dollars and face deportation. "The Kennedy-McCain bill will hopefully eliminate this awful situation. Many local families are in limbo and want to stay."

There are no official statistics on the number of illegal immigrants in the United States, but estimates range from 6 million to 11 million. Additionally, it is estimated that there are between 40,000 and 50,000 from Ireland in the U.S.

The bill was introduced last year by Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts and Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. If passed, it 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.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, who is sponsoring a bus from Rockland, said the bill is a move to fix a broken immigration system that is "a cruel perpetuation of the status quo."

Engel said too many undocumented people were hard-working and faced a constant threat of deportation; this bill would help restore some order to immigration, he said.

"This attempts to say if you come here, work hard and play by the rules, you can gain legal status," Engel said yesterday. "It attempts to bring some order to a very difficult situation."

Engel said the leadership in both the House and Senate had not yet supported this particular bill, so it was important to keep discussion going.

"It's going to be a long, hard struggle, but ultimately we'll win this struggle because there's no alternative," he said. "This bill, or one similar, will pass because current policies in the U.S. are broken and beyond repair."

For Reilly, the rally is an opportunity to show Congress that there is strong support from the Irish community for reform.

"Our intention is to put a full day campaigning for this bill. I joined this campaign for the simple reason of being a help," Reilly said. "So many Irish people are afraid to live normal lives, always looking over their shoulder. So many of these young people are in dire need."