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Pitch In!

Baseball season is just around the corner. Before you trade in that old glove, think about donating it so children in the US and around the world who can’t afford equipment can take their bases in style.

The McCollum Insurance Agency, 4109 Main Street, in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia, is collecting new and gently used youth baseball/softball gloves and new baseballs and softballs for Pitch In for Baseball (PIB), a nonprofit organization based in Harleysville founded by David Rhode, a businessman and avid sports coach. Some well known local folks serve on its board, among them Bill Piszek, vice president of the Copernicus Society founded by his late father, Ed Piszek, founder of Mrs. Paul’s Foods, and Bradley Korman, co-president of Korman Communities, Inc.

This past year, Pitch in for Baseball teamed with major league baseball to distribute equipment to more than 175 inner city baseball leagues in the US. PIB has sent gear to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, a youth organization in Slovenia, and, thanks to a group of US soldiers in Iraq, to a new baseball team in Bagdad. In Philly, the group was able to help the Nelson Playground to increase the number of participants in its ball programs from 60 to 300 because of the donated equipment.

McCollum came across PIB while looking for an organization that needed sports equipment. “From day one when I started my business, I wanted to do something to help out the community,” he says. “There are drives for food and for clothing, and I wanted to try something different. And there they were on Google.”

Ideally, McCollum says, he’d love the equipment he collects to go to kids in Philly. “I really wanted to help out locally,” he says. And he was happy to see that the city’s parks department is a regular recipient of PIB’s largesse.

McCollum will be collecting baseball gear through March 15 at his Manayunk office. You can contact him at b.mccollum@verizon.net or 215-508-9000.

January 25, 2010 by
News

Learn How You Can Help Haiti

Roosevelt and Deirdre Maitre. Photo by Joy Moody.

Roosevelt and Deirdre Maitre. Photo by Joy Moody.

Philadelphia filmmaker Deirdre (Dede) Maitre, the granddaughter of Irish immigrants, will screen clips from the documentary work she has done over the years in Haiti on Friday night, January 29, at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street, in the Mt. Airy section of Phladelphia.

Representatives from various Haitian aid groups will also be there to answer questions about the earthquake that has left an estimate 200,000 people dead and millions more homeless and without food, water, and medical care.

Maitre, who received her MFA from Temple University in 2005, has been the recipient of many grants and awards, including the Ben Lazaroff Writing Scholarship, a Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association Subsidy Grant, and a Thesis project Completion Grant from the University Fellowship Committee of the Graduate Board of Temple University. Her husband, Roosevelt, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

She runs her own company, Maytree Multimedia, which provides digital video services to small organizations and businesses, and she freelances on independent film projects. Her own current project is “Is God Sleeping?”—a short documentary about a young Haitian painter struggling as an illegal immigrant in the United States. She recently completed a photoessay, Permission, which features personal portraits of the residents of Saint Marie, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. You can see some of her work on her website.

Irish charities, particularly Concern Worldwide, were on the ground in Haiti when the quake struck. Concern, founded in Ireland in 1968, has had a team in three areas of Haiti–La Gonave Central Plateau, and Port-au-Prince–since Hurricane Gordon hit the islands in 1994. The Irish American nonprofit, GOAL, USA, founded in Dublin in 1977, is also there. You can donate to Concern at www.concernUSA.org/HaitiAppeal and to Goal USA at www.goalusa.org.

January 22, 2010 by
News, People

After More Than 40 Years, The Philadelphia Parade Committee’s Money Man Hands In His Ledger

Paul J. Phillips Jr., right, with son Chris.

Paul J. Phillips Jr., right, with son Chris.

How long has Paul J. Phillips Jr. been involved in the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade?

“Longer than I’ve been alive,” says son Chris Phillips, current recording secretary of the St. Patrick’s Day Obervance Association. Chris was born in 1963. His dad became treasurer of the association in 1962. Aside from a couple of years when he served as president (1989-1990), Paul Phillips has been treasurer ever since.

Phillips recently retired from the position, handing over the reins to Leonard Armstrong.

He wasn’t expecting to be treasurer for quite so long. “They asked me to do it on a temporary basis, and I did,” he says. But the Philadelphia parade is the sort of thing that stirs passions and inspires deep loyalty. So for more than 40 years, the 86-year-old Gray’s Ferry native and Southeast Catholic alum diligently watched over the finances of the nation’s second-oldest parade of any kind.

It was never an easy job, his son says—and over the years, it got harder. But Paul Phillips was equal to the task.

“He’s always been a man who kept good records,” says Chris, who recalls his father showing up at his last meeting as treasurer with the same leather-bound ledger he inherited upon becoming the association treasurer. In the early going, the parade was relatively small. But, says Chris, “over the year’s it’s grown, and he’s had to deal with managing large amounts of money every year. Keeeping all of that together has been a stretch sometimes.”

Though the job was difficult, the unflappable treasurer apparently took it all in stride. For that, he says he owes a debt of gratitude to current and past colleagues on the board. “I’ve always had a great deal of cooperation from the other board members,” Phillips says. He remembers many of them with great fondness, and he counts himself lucky for all the friendships he made on and off the board, including such notables as former mayors James Tate and Bill Green.

For his partners on the board, the feeling is mutual. They honored him Thursday night for his many years of service. (Happily for everyone involved, he’ll remain on the executive committee.)

As he accepted a large plaque from association President Michael F. Callahan, Phillips took a moment to reflect on all those years of service. “I thought it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he said. “I loved it.”

January 14, 2010 by
News

What’s The Immigration Bill All About?

By Stephen M. Dunne, Esq.

On December 15, 2009, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced legislation (HR 4321) to reform our immigration laws. To date, the bill has 92 co-sponsors, all of them Democrats.

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) represents an important step in getting Congress to repair our broken immigration system.

The CIR ASAP bill is the first comprehensive immigration reform bill that aims to rectify some of the egregious immigration practices set in place since 1996 while simultaneously establishing a 21st century approach to protect and secure our nation’s borders.

Below is a thumbnail sketch of the contents of the bill:

Border Security: The bill creates a Southern Border Security Task Force that is composed of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers with oversight and accountability provided by the Department of Homeland Security. The enforcement provision of the bill ensures that the Customs and Border Protection have sufficient assets such as helicopters, power boats, motor vehicles and other advanced aerial surveillance equipment to properly secure the U.S. – Mexico border.

Enforcement: The bill repeals the controversial 287(g) program, a provision of immigration law relating to cooperation between state and local enforcement agencies and ICE (misused by some agencies bent on harassing immigrants) and clarifies that the authority to enforce the federal immigration law lies solely with the federal government.

Judicial Review: The bill would restore provisions providing for judicial review of immigration proceedings that were stripped from the law by 1996 legislation. The federal courts would be free to review the decisions and practices of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) thereby restoring the historic role that the courts play in reviewing agency actions.

Legalization: The bill would create a program providing conditional nonimmigrant status for undocumented immigrants (and their spouses and children) in the U.S., which is valid for six years. An undocumented immigrant must establish his/her presence on or before December 15, 2009, pass a criminal background check, learn English and U.S. civics and pay a $500 fine (plus necessary application fees) in order to obtain a six-year visa. After the six-year term has expired, the undocumented immigrant is also eligible to adjust their status from conditional nonimmigrant to lawful permanent resident status (green card) and eventual citizenship.

Visa Reforms: The bill would reduce the existing backlog by permitting “recapture” of unused employment-based visas and family sponsored visas from fiscal years 1992-2008 and allows future unused visa numbers to roll over to the next fiscal year. It is estimated that these recaptured visas would number in the hundreds of thousands. The bill would increase the number of employment-based green cards from 140,000 to 290,000 per year. To promote family unity, the bill reclassifies the spouse and children of Legal Permanent Residents and treats them the same as the spouses and children of citizens, exempting them from the annual immigration cap. Furthermore, immigration judges are given great discretionary authority to waive unlawful presence bars to reunite families upon a demonstration of hardship for applicant’s U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members.

Our current immigration system has failed by all accounts and we desperately need to begin the comprehensive immigration reform dialogue in Congress in order to solve the current crisis. President Obama has indicated that he wants Congress to pass an immigration bill in 2010 and (HR 4321) may be that bill. It certainly would be a brilliant way to start the New Year.

Stephen Dunne is a Center City attorney who was born in Dublin. He graduated from Penn State, got his law degree from New England Law, and has served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He volunteers at the Philadelphia Irish Immigration Center, the Pennsylvania Senior Law Center and the Immigrant Migration Center in Philadelphia, among others.

January 12, 2010 by
News

Help Build Support for Immigration Reform

With the introduction of a new bill in the U.S. House, immigration is back on the table again. Siobhán Lyons, executive director of the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia, wants you to forget past setbacks and help rally support for legislation to bring 50,000 undocumented Irish out of the cold.

“We need to get people talking again and to feel that this is something we could possibly do,” she says. “Sitting around and saying ‘we tried it before and it didn’t work’ will guarantee that nothing will happen.”

You can get involved and learn more about the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act at a special “happy hour” meeting hosted by the Irish Immigration Center Tuesday night at 5:30 at Tír na nÓg, 1600 Arch Street in Philadelphia.

“Our goals are modest,” Lyons says. “We just want to start a conversation about immigration in the Irish community. There won’t be a lot of ‘speeching.’ The main goal is to get people together and spread the word that immigration reform is back in the House.”

Aside from desperately needed visa reform, Lyons says, the new legislation would set forth a path to legal residency and perhaps full-fledged citizenship. Under the provisions of CIR ASAP, undocumented immigrants could apply for conditional residence. After six years, they’d be able to apply for green cards. “At some point, then, the 50,000 Irish who are undocumented would have a solution,” Lyons says.

Lyons would also like to see House lawmakers consider negotiation of a bilateral treaty between Ireland and the United States to establish E3 visas along the lines of a similar agreement between the Republic and Australia. E3 visas would permit skilled Irish workers to come to the U.S. to work for a period of two years, and allow them to renew those visas indefinitely.

Given the current state of the U.S. economy, some might say it’s a bad time to be making it easier for undocumented immigrants to compete for jobs. But, Lyons says, a lot of undocumented immigrants are here already. “These people have jobs,” she says. “This (legislation) would free them to earn more and spend more and to negotiate for higher wages across the board.”

Tír na nÓg is donating the space for free, with happy hour specials, Lyons notes. She hopes that this meeting will trigger still more meetings on the subject. “If this meeting is successful, we’ll try for more,” she says. “If we all work together we can absolutely make this happen.”

January 7, 2010 by
News

Re-Celebrate the New Year!

Sarah Conaghan rings in the New Year.

Sarah Conaghan rings in the New Year.

A roaring fire, a table laden with goodies, and live Irish music–it was enough to make you think that 2010 was going to be a mighty fine year, no matter what economists were saying.

That was the scene at the Philadelphia Irish Center on New Year’s Eve 2009. We were there and have the photos to prove it.

January 6, 2010 by
News, People

Being Irish In 2009: The Year in Pictures

By now you’ve probably read a dozen stories that recounted who died last year and the highlights of the aught decade. This is not going to be the unlucky 13th.

I was doing a little photo housecleaning when it occurred to me that I recalled the Irish part of my year in pictures. Not the big events so much, but the small things—the babies, the smiles, the laughs, the photos I just thought were damned good.

So I put them all together in one slideshow to share with you on this last day of 2009 (or in first days of 2010, depending on when you’re finally getting around to reading this).

Many of them are from parades. We must see a good six or seven, most of them over a three-week period in March. Jeff and I can probably make it into the Guinness Book of World Records for most shamrock deely bobbers spotted in one year, were that a legitimate entry. In 2000, Jeff (who plays the bodhran, an Irish drum) participated in an international event in Killarney during which 2,000 pipers marched on to a field and played together (so, if you call to him and he doesn’t answer, you know the reason why: Chronic Pipe and Drum Band Hearing Loss. I’ve had it since he forced me to listen to the 25 bagpipers from Irish Thunder playing “Amazing Grace” inside). Since we started this Web site in 2006, we’ve probably heard three times that number and believe me, we have pictures to prove it. I didn’t include them all. You’ll thank me later.

But I could barely stop myself when it came to Irish dancers. And kids. And babies. We love them. We can’t help ourselves. We’re total suckers for cute. If you hate cute, just move along.

Some of the photos are there because they touched my heart. Gwyneth MacArthur’s shot of a photo of the late and great Frank Malley, for example. There were photos of Frank, longtime director of the Philadelphia Ceili Group’s annual festival, scattered everywhere at his standing-room-only wake at the Irish Center. In this one, he’s wearing one of his famous hats, on one of his famous trips, with his friend, Connie. Maybe it’s because I knew Frank and liked him, but this photo of a photo is the one that “got” me.

One of my all-time favorites is the picture I snapped of Angela Mohan, coach of the Mairead Farrell Ladies Junior Football Club with Sinn Fein MP Gerry Adams, who met with members of the team when he came to Philly this fall. Adams knew the late Mairead Farrell, an IRA member killed by British troops, and wanted to thank the team for remembering her. And, of course, he’s a football nut himself. He was warm and gracious, patiently posing with every team member for photos and talking unhurriedly with each of the footballers—and not, like many politicians, like he was running for something or playing it up for the press. We were the only media outlet that knew he was in town.

Football. Hurling. Cardinal Dougherty field in the blazing sun. Trash talking. These are a few of our favorite things. We love Gaelic sports. We don’t understand why more people aren’t out there with us on the sidelines, not comprehending the rules or scoring but enjoying the most exciting games in the world and the unrelenting but charming cursing. (The Irish invented trash talking—don’t let anyone tell you anything different.) Oh, and when it rains? Check out the photos. There is joy in mudville.

Well, enjoy the show, and as we say good riddance to the past year, let’s raise our glasses to toast the new one. Athbhlian faoi mhaise!

December 31, 2009 by
Columns, News

Guest Editorial: Immigration–Do the Math

By Stephen Dunne, Esq.

The United States is a nation of immigrants which historically always had a liberal U.S. immigration policy. During the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, immigration to the United States was essentially open, and, at times, immigrants were even recruited to come to America to help with the settlement of undeveloped areas of the country. Until the 1920’s, no numerical limits on immigration existed in America.

What happened? Racial theories based on junk science began to influence U.S. immigration policy. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee employed a eugenics consultant, Dr. Harry H. Laughlin, who asserted that certain races were inferior. Within a short time, the Immigration Act of 1924 set new numerical limits on immigration based on “national origin.” Taking effect in 1929, the law imposed annual immigration quotas for the first time, essentially closing the door to many immigrants.

The United States, a nation of immigrants, has continually been dependent on successive waves of immigration to grow it economy. It is in large part thanks to these immigrants that the United States has prospered over the past few centuries.

I am not an economist but I am an Irish immigrant who has owned and managed a landscaping company, a real estate company and presently, a law firm and it seems to me that this country needs a multifaceted solution to solve our current economic crisis and Immigration Reform could very well be part of that solution.

According to most calculations, twelve million illegal immigrants (12,000,000) reside in the United States. Assuming that a two thousand dollar ($2,000.00) application fee is charged to twelve million illegal immigrants (12,000,000) that would generate approximately twenty-four billion dollars from this one time application fee that could be used to stimulate the U.S. economy.

More importantly, the twelve million illegal immigrants would now be paying taxes for the first time and assuming that each individual is taxed in the 15% tax bracket and earning an annual income of $25,000.00, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would collect $3,750.00 per person which would amount to forty-five billion dollars per year in new taxes from these immigrants.

Immigration reform would stimulate the U.S. economy by generating sixty-nine billion dollars in application fees and taxes in the first year alone and forty-five billion dollars each year thereafter. Now that’s a stimulus package!

It goes without saying that Immigration Reform needs to be addressed immediately as an integral component of a strategic plan to resuscitate the stagnant US economy.

Bio: Attorney Stephen Dunne is originally from Dublin, Ireland. He has a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice and sociology from Pennsylvania State University, a Juris Doctor from New England Law in Boston. He also served in the U.S. Army as an Infantry Sergeant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Dunne’s legal practice, which is based in Philadelphia, focuses on immigration, estate planning, family law, DUI’s and bankruptcy law. Mr. Dunne is actively involved in community service initiatives, volunteering weekly at the Philadelphia Irish Immigration Center, Philadelphia Senior Law Center, Pennsylvania Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project, Philadelphia Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program and the Immigrant Migration Service of Philadelphia.

December 17, 2009 by