Kennedy Leads Irish Rally in Support of Immigration Reform

Today 1600 Irish Americans – including 900 from Massachusetts – descended on the Capitol in support of the McCain-Kennedy plan for comprehensive immigration reform. Kennedy addressed the group to thank them for their dedication and give them an update as to where the negotiations stand in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The mark-up of Chairman Specter’s immigration proposal began on March 2 and continued today. Kennedy and bipartisan co-sponsors of McCain-Kennedy are seeking to improve Specter’s proposal believing that its enforcement provisions and failure to offer a pathway to citizenship would further drive immigrants into the shadows.

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform represents Irish American groups across the country and is working hard to galvanize support behind McCain-Kennedy by holding events across the country over the next few weeks. The government in the Republic of Ireland took a rare action in November by giving the McCain-Kennedy bill its unanimous stamp of approval.

“Millions and millions of immigrants have made it to our shores. All eight of my great-grandparents came here to escape poverty and famine in Ireland, and seek a new life for themselves and their children,” said Senator Kennedy. “Immigrants have built this country and helped make it great. They have provided the labor and the services that are the bedrock of our economy. To our opponents who say so casually, “Turn them into criminals,” we reply, “Turn them into Americans,” and make America a stronger and better land.”

Senator Kennedy’s Remarks at the Irish Rally for Immigration Reform
“In New York, the Irish Pack It In” – L.A. Times

“Before dawn today, 17 buses were scheduled to leave Katonah Avenue for Washington, where Irish immigrants intend to press for passage of the Kennedy-McCain immigration bill. The legislation would allow all illegal immigrants to apply for legal status after paying their back taxes and working in the United States for six years.

The Irish government estimates that 25,000 of its citizens are living illegally in the United States, but immigration reform groups say the number is as high as 40,000.

The push to change U.S. immigration law came from Ireland, where politicians were hearing bitter complaints from voters whose relatives were living here illegally, said Niall O’Dowd, chairman and founder of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. The group received a grant from the Irish government to pursue its mission.

‘There’s nowhere in the world where Irish citizens are more marginalized than the United States,’ said O’Dowd, publisher of the weekly Irish Voice.

The Irish-born population in the United States has been dwindling for years, from 251,000 in 1970 to 169,827 in 1990, according to the census. It has fallen sharply over the last four years, most notably between 2003 and 2004, when it dropped from 148,416 to 127,682.”

A Comparison of the Kennedy-McCain Plan and the Specter Plan for Immigration Reform

–Crystal Patterson