Thread: Irish could play role in fight for immigrants' rights

http://www.suntimes.com/output/brown/cs ... wn091.html


Irish could play role in fight for immigrants' rights

March 9, 2006

BY MARK BROWN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST


Billy Lawless moves with the purpose of a man on a mission as he exits his SUV and unlocks the front door of his Wrigleyville pub, not pausing to shake hands until we've made it inside. He's a big man, big enough that you wouldn't want to get in his way, and so I don't, until he smiles, extends a meaty paw and points at a sunlit table in the front.

Lawless tells me he's just come from a meeting on the Northwest Side with a Polish-American group, and he needs to hurry downtown for another meeting as soon as we finish.

The topic for both is the same: an immigration reform march that is expected to draw at least 10,000 demonstrators to Chicago on Friday afternoon. Lawless is trying to recruit as many marchers as possible, hoping to put a multi-ethnic face on an issue that is too often seen as only a Hispanic problem.

Lawless, 55, came here eight years ago from Galway, bringing with him not only his family but all the aged oak woodwork and fixtures for the interior of his bar, the Irish Oak. He's had enough success that his son will soon open another bar on Michigan Avenue.

But even though Lawless is here legally with a valid visa, he feels the urgency of those who aren't.

"There's so many people I know who are undocumented," he says, citing estimates of between 5,000 and 7,000 undocumented Irish in Chicago alone.

This awareness has made Lawless sensitive not only to the plight of his Irish countrymen but also to the millions of other illegal immigrants in the U.S. whose fate rests on the outcome of legislation now coming to a head in Congress.

"It's not just a Mexican or Hispanic thing, Mark. We're all in the same boat," says Lawless, chairman of Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform.

Many overstay their visas

If immigration were solely a Mexican issue, it would still deserve just as much attention.

But the more that people see immigration for the multi-ethnic concern that it truly is, the more likely we are to have the national resolve to find some real solutions, solutions that don't contemplate deporting millions of people.

It's easy, therefore, to see why immigrant rights advocates are excited about putting an Irish presence at the forefront of the reform debate -- especially in Chicago.

"Immigrants have only been an asset to Chicago," Lawless said. "It's part of what Chicago is."

Most of the undocumented Irish came here legally and then overstayed their visas, a category that is said to account for more some 40 percent of all undocumented workers in the U.S. Many of the undocumented Irish are working in the construction industry.

"A lot have done very, very well for themselves," Lawless said.

The undocumented Irish face many of the same issues as undocumented Mexicans, as well as some that are peculiar to their geographic situation.

For instance, if they go back to Ireland for a visit, they aren't allowed to return to the U.S., so many end up missing family funerals and the like. Despite the dangers of the border crossing, I think many Mexicans manage to come and go with regularity.

Barred from returning

Lawless tells me of David Elliott, 33, who came to Chicago 10 years ago, found work as a carpenter, married a Chicago girl and bought an Uptown condo, then went home to Galway last fall when told his mother was ill and might die.

The good news: Mom lived. The bad: Elliott has been refused re-entry for overstaying his visa the last time. His wife, Amy Bashook, believes he'll eventually be allowed to return but doesn't think it's fair in the meantime. "He's been paying his taxes since he's been here. He's a hard worker. He's never been in trouble," she said.

Undocumented Irish also may have had better luck than others in the past in obtaining driver's licenses, but since the first of the year, a new law has blocked them and everybody else from getting license renewals, which in turn keeps them from getting auto insurance.

"I don't see the reason behind that," Lawless said. "Why would you want unlicensed drivers driving our streets?"

The reason, I guess, is that lawmakers don't want to see those who are here illegally get a foot in the door that would help them stay.

Immigration reform means different things to different people, and I know that my slant on this stuff drives some of you crazy. But I don't see some big wall as part of any eventual solution.

The main sponsors of Friday's march are Centro Sin Fronteras, the Mexican Hometown Federations, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Service Employees International Union Locals 73 and 1. The groups support a reform proposal authored by U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)

Lawless says the undocumented Irish just want their chance to be Americans.

Lawless says the undocumented Irish just want their chance to be Americans.

I may be one-fourth Irish, but no individual or group, including the Irish, should be allowed to take our immigration laws into their own hands by ignoring them. There is no right or guarantee for anybody to have a chance to be American, unless Americans grant them that privilege. It is not a matter of "Immigrants' Rights" anyway as the headline states, but rather a matter of criminals seeking amnesty which if granted encourages more lawbreaking and eventually we become overwhelmed with lawbreakers.

I am part Irish and identify with them more than any other group but I say illegal means illegal, even for the Irish.

"Lawless" great name for a guy who intends to aid and abet criminals.

They OVERSTAYED their visas? And they have no excuse whatsoever--they speak English and they ought to be able to read it!