Funferal

Oireachtas delegation to lobby US Congress on migration reform

Michael D. is taking part in an Oireachtas delegation to D.C. that will push for support for the Kennedy-McCain legislation on undocumented immigrants. That legislation is facing pressure from other regressive proposals, and it’s going to come to a head soon, with the conference report (on reconciling proposals from the Senate and the House) due in a little over two months.
According to Deputy Higgins:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently discussing legislation to deal with issues of immigration. The number of undocumented people in the United States is estimated at just under 12 million, and estimates for the Irish component of that figure vary from 5,000 to 40,000.
The Irish affected are forced to live in the shadows. This means that they run considerable risks of a health, social and economic kind. They are not free to return home for family events, births, deaths or funerals, and recent legislation such as the Sensenbrenner Bill, which concentrates on the control of immigration has created new difficulties associated with even possessing a driving licence.
The current atmosphere in the United States is such that the Kennedy/McCain legislation will face real difficulties. The delegation is hoping to have a number of meetings which would be helpful in this regard.

Among the groups they’ll be meeting, of course, will be the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, which has been doing tremendous work on this issue. Looks like it’s all coming down to the wire…