Ireland Seeks a Peace Over Immigration

The Irish government is seeking a separate peace for its own people in the American immigration debate after the death of a bill last summer that would have created a path to legal status for millions of illegal immigrants, including tens of thousands of Irish.

Modeled on a recent arrangement with Australia, a deal to create a new set of work visas for Irish immigrants would likely come in the form of a bilateral treaty between America and Ireland linked to the recent success of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Irish officials have signaled that they were attempting to convince the Bush administration to make the visas available for Irish who have immigrated illegally. That would be a departure from the deal reached with Australia.

Not all in the Irish community are applauding Ireland's entry into the American immigration fray, however. Instead, the possibility of a deal has set off a conflict between those who see the effort as a way to move the immigration debate forward, and those who worry that giving Irish illegal immigrants opportunities that Mexicans and others lack would be discriminatory and unfair.

"To support a special deal that would single out illegal Irish immigrants for preferential treatment would be morally wrong, could harm the U.S.-Ireland relationship, damage the high regard in which Irish-Americans are held, and lead to a divisive debate in the U.S. between the Hispanic community and the Irish-American community," the president of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, Trina Vargo, wrote recently in the Irish Times.

The article, published in November, provoked an immediate backlash in the Irish community here.

"Her malevolent intervention comes at a time when it seemed some progress was being made on the issue. It is a shameful attempt to condemn young Irish immigrants to life in the shadows here, but it won't work," the chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Niall O'Dowd, wrote in his own article in the Irish Voice, the newspaper he founded.

"There are many things in the world to get outraged about. Irish Americans seeking to help their own become legal in America is not one of them," he wrote.

Along Katonah Avenue, the heart of an Irish enclave in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, opinion is also sharply divided about whether the Irish should aim for a special deal.

A 23-year-old carpenter from Galway, who is here illegally and identified himself only as John N., said he thinks the Irish "should go for it."
"We need a deal," he said. "We can't go home for Christmas."

But a group of old-timers gathered on benches outside of Sean's Quality Deli shook their heads at the idea.

"We came in the front door," Leo Keirins, who came to Woodlawn from Sleigo, Ireland 42 years ago, said. "They're back and forth with bags of money, one foot there, one foot back in Ireland. It's not right."

The president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, John Trasviña, said a bilateral deal would hurt, rather than help the chances for other immigrant groups to secure a wider overhaul of the system.

"It would make it harder for us to get a comprehensive immigration reform. It would not be in the best interest of the United States to have a single bilateral agreement," he said.

Wary of criticism that a deal for the Irish might be labeled as unjust or even racist, many advocates have been careful to qualify their support for any sort of special visas. They have said that even as they consider supporting the deal, they are continuing to lobby for a path to legalization that would apply to all illegal immigrants.

In an interview, Mr. O'Dowd noted that the effort to draft a treaty is in a very preliminary stage, and said that he was not sure if it was something he would support in the end.

"I would much prefer comprehensive immigration reform, but I think it's a long shot at this stage," he said.

The Irish Consulate in New York also noted in a statement that Ireland is actively pushing for an wider immigration overhaul, even as it said Irish officials are "continuing with our efforts to put in place arrangements which would provide opportunities for the future flow of legal migration between our two countries and which would help resolve the situation facing our undocumented community."

The number of illegal Irish has declined in recent years, to about 50,000 or less after a round of special visas was issued for them in the late 1980s and '90s.

A treaty would need Congressional approval, and a spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant group, Douglas Rivlin, called the Irish effort "an uphill battle." He said his organization supported focused immigration measures, grouping the Irish effort in with attempts by high school students and agricultural workers to get special deals, but said the current political climate — including the increased anti-illegal immigration rhetoric in the Republican presidential primary race — meant even small groups faced bleak odds.

"In the end, it's hard to get a targeted measure through because the Republicans go, 'Oh my god, it's an amnesty,' and the Democrats say, 'Why don't we make this broader?' and it doesn't really have the juice to get over the finish line," he said.

Advocates said they have had positive discussions recently with several elected officials in New York and elsewhere who indicated they might support the deal, but none of them responded to requests for comment for this article after more than a week of queries.

Secretary of State Rice met in October with the foreign minister of Ireland, Dermot Ahern, who afterwards told Irish newspapers that he spoke with her about his hopes for a treaty.

The Irish Times quoted Mr. Ahern saying that he had called the situation of illegal Irish in America an "ongoing sore" for Ireland. He also reportedly told Ms. Rice that Ireland wanted to "work with her administration to see if we could do something on a reciprocal basis into the future, and, if possible, cure some of the issues of the ongoing undocumented."

A spokesman for the State Department, Edgar Vasquez, said he could not comment on their discussion except to say, "issues of mutual interest came up."

In defense of a possible deal, advocates have argued that increasing visas for the Irish would fix what they say is a lopsided American visa system that is biased against them.

"We have people here who are in the end victims of the what is a historic discrimination," the chairman of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, Brian O'Dwyer said, referring to the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.

The law did away with an old quota system that for decades had barred immigrants from countries in Asia and the Caribbean, effectively reducing the availability of visas for Northern Europeans, including the Irish.

"We have to at least seek to remedy that," Mr. O'Dwyer said.

Mr. O'Dwyer said he also believes opening the door to illegal Irish immigrants could make it possible for other illegal immigrant groups to get their foot in, too.

"Any sort of advance in lessening the immigration laws ultimately benefits everybody," Mr. O'Dwyer said.

"It's a pretty depressing period in terms of immigration reform," Mr. O'Dowd said. "If something can be done it would be wonderful."