Renewed hope for undocumented in US

THE hopes of tens of thousands of Irish-born people in the US have been raised after President Barack Obama threw his weight behind an overhaul of the country’s immigration system, which would include a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

THE hopes of tens of thousands of Irish-born people in the US have been raised after President Barack Obama threw his weight behind an overhaul of the country’s immigration system, which would include a path to citizenship for the undocumented.
Whitegate’s Gordon Malone was on the Clare All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship winning team of 1997 and was on the panel for the All-Ireland senior final in 2002.
He has lived in Chicago for the last 10 years, working as a plumber. Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday, he said he is optimistic that there will be progress this time.
“I’m a lot more hopeful at this stage. There seems to be a much bigger push here from both Republicans and Democrats, whereas the last time it was just the Democrats really. It seems like they’re all pretty much on board with having to do something, so I’d be more hopeful but it’s a case of wait and see.”
Efforts to reform immigration in 2007 failed. After that Gordon thought he might return to Ireland in the coming years but when the Irish economy went into freefall, he had a rethink.
“That changed my mind pretty fast. There’s nothing at home to be going back to. I have a good job here so I’m just going to hold tough here. I got married in the meantime and stuff so I’m still hoping something will come about.”
His Irish wife is also undocumented but they have managed to buy a house in Chicago and despite not having immigrated legally, they pay taxes.
He said there has been an increase in the numbers of Irish coming to Chicago but Boston and New York are more likely to be the destinations of choice for Irish emigrants.
Flagmount’s Fr Michael Leonard is also based in Chicago and has been working on the campaign for Comprehensive Immigration Reform for the last eight years.
He is also feeling optimistic about the prospects for an overhaul of the current system. “It’s looking very hopeful I would have to say at this point,” he said.
President Obama’s support is important and he feels the Senate won’t be a problem. He notes negotiating the House of Representatives may be more difficult.
“Obama obviously has a much stronger hand following the election than he had before because he won 71% of the Hispanic vote and they are the fastest growing group in American politics.

“He has a strong hand but you’d have to remember that the way things operate here, the bill writing and all of that stuff has to be generated from the Senate and the House.
“There are encouraging signs I have to say too from the House of Representatives. Speaker John Boehner has said he won’t get in the way of immigration reform.”
Fr Leonard is in charge of pastoral services for Chicago Irish Immigrant Support, while he is also involved with a US church group active on the matter.
“I have been involved with the movement that was started by the US bishops back in 2005. It’s called the Justice for Immigrants campaign.
“I got involved because we have 40-50,000 undocumented Irish people still in the country but also because it’s a social justice issue and it’s part of the call of the Gospel to take care of the stranger and so forth.
“I got involved then with this group because they thought it would be important to have an Irish, or a white face if you want to put it like that. I got involved with that group in Washington and I have been campaigning on Capitol Hill ever since. We’re also part of a larger coalition here in Chicago and Chicago has been one of the leaders of this.”
Across the US, he said Irish centres are regularly seeing new arrivals. “I’m on the board of the Irish Immigrant Centres nationwide and what has been reported, particularly from Boston, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco, is steady numbers. Not huge, like you had in the 1980s, but steady.”
North Clare-based Senator Martin Conway attended a rally for the undocumented Irish in Washington in 2007. He said he was surprised to meet a number of people there who he knew. He noted a large number of Clare people are living in the shadows in the US and he hopes their situation will change soon.
“Having personally marched, in solidarity, at a rally for the undocumented Irish in Washington in 2007, I know how much this proposed reform would benefit and enhance the day-to-day lives of immigrants and their families. 
“It was a tremendous pity that the Kennedy McCain Bill, which was proposed in 2007, did not become law. Hopefully this new plan will herald a new dawn for the Irish immigrants in the US.
“I eagerly await further developments in the progress of this long-awaited reform,” he said.