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Dail calls for bilateral agreement on US undocumented

By Noreen Bowden | November 7, 2007

TDs from all parties have united to call for a bilateral agreement between the US and Ireland to legalise the undocumented Irish in the US.

The motion was proposed by Fine Gael. Fine Gael spokesperson on community, rural and Gaeltacht affairs Michael Ring said Ireland had a responsibility toward the undocumented, adding,

“The situation facing undocumented Irish in the US has become more precarious since 9/11, with many of them unable to obtain driving licences, travel to or from Ireland, even at the most upsetting times when they need to attend a family funeral.”

Minister for State for Foreign Affairs Michael Kitt said that the Government has said it would explore all possible alternative options in the event that comprehensive reform legislation, which would have provided a path to citizenship for all of the 11 million undocumented in the US, failed.

Those options included reciprocal initiatives for young people, as well as non-immigrant visa exchanges between Ireland and the US.

Some sources say, however, that there are difficulties that would prevent reciprocal work visas from covering the undocumented.

 Read the Dail debate on the Oireachtas.ie website.

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