Funferal

Immigration reform and the Irish

Amidst the various debates on immigration in the United States, the issue of undocumented Irish immigrants adds an interesting angle. Much contemporary debate focuses on immigration from Latin America, and from the reactionary end is focused on issues such as cultural purity, language use, etc. It’s also seen as a continuing issue, ‘requiring’ responses such as walls along the southern land border of the United States.
The bulk of undocumented Irish, on the other hand, have been here for quite some time. Emigration from Ireland last peaked in the late 1980s, and the country now has net immigration. Given the manner in which the Irish are seen as part of mainstream – read white – U.S. culture, some of elements surrounding the moral panic are missing.
An extra twist is the manner in which the Irish have responded to growing immigration in Ireland, with a referendum being passed last year to deny automatic citizenship to children born in Ireland whose parents are not citizens. [Part of a separate moral panic in Ireland, framed in both economic and cultural terms.]
Anyhow, there’s now a lobby group, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform pushing for regularization of the position of undocumented Irish immigrants in the United States. From their site:

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform has been established to make sure there is an Irish voice in the nationwide immigration debate.
Over the next four months or so, the US Congress and the White House will make key decisions on illegal immigration, decisions which will affect the estimated 40,000 Irish undocumented.
Some right wing Republican bills would enforce new laws without any amnesty provision for those here illegally. The Irish government has shown the way with clear backing for the bi-partisan McCain/Kennedy bill. Kennedy/McCain would grant the undocumented a path to a green card while also bringing in new enforcement laws.

Obviously, groups like the Irish with a history of undocumented immigration, but with fewer new cases, will have a different analysis of such compromises than groups where undocumented immmigration continues. However, there is no doubt that being undocumented has become much more problematic for existing immigrants since 2001. The ILIR site links to the Irish Voices weblog where various Irish undocumented immigrants post their stories:

The Irish undocumented immigrants live here in America because they love the way of life and the opportunities afforded them in this great vast country in spite of the overwhelming fear of being undocumented.
On a daily basis our American dream turns into a nightmare. What if I get hurt badly or sick? I have no medical insurance because I have no social security number. What if a close family member gets sick or, the unthinkable, actually dies? Do I go home and lose my whole life here to attend the funeral.
I can not access the jobs I have the education and skills for without working papers so I work the only jobs that are available to the undocumented.
Now you can not renew your driving license another nail in the coffin, you can’t get a library card never mind a green one.

The stories on the blog are filled with emotion and, as an Irishman, I can’t help but be sympathetic. Other questions arise of course: Will the proposed amendment help ‘safe’ (white) groups like the Irish at the expense of others? By highlighting themselves as a special case, are the Irish putting an acceptable face on undocumented migrants, and thus helping undocumented immigrants at large, or are they selling out other undocumented workers, in a repeat of the late 1800s? Do Irish immigrants have a duty of care to other (future?) undocumented migrant populations, or as undeniably vulnerable individuals is it reasonable to leverage such influence as they have without regard for other groups? How will the proposal impact upon other established immigrant groups?