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.”
