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Monday, May 28th, 2007Vietnamese priests in the US are being referred to as the “new Irish”, according to an article in the California Catholic Daily. The article points out that the Irish-born accounted for 80% of the priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s; their places have now been taken by Latin Americans, Nigerians, and people from South and Southeast Asia.
“Vietnamese priests are filling the gap,� Ryan Lilyengren, a spokesman for the diocese of Orange, told the Los Angeles Times. “People are calling them the new Irish.�
Vietnamese Catholics number only about 300,000 (or about 1% of US Catholics), but they along with other Asian seminarians make up 12% of the nation’s seminarians.
Read the article on the California Catholic website.
First round of senate debate on immigration reform ends
Monday, May 28th, 2007The US Senate bill for comprehensive immigration reform survived the first round of debate last week. Debate will resume next week.
According to Sheila Gleeson of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers, several amendments were defeated on Thursday night. These included:
- The Coleman amendment, which would have allowed local government officials to inquire about immigration status, was defeated 48-49.
- The Dorgan amendment, which would have removed the guest worker programme from the bill, was also defeated 48-49.
- The Sanders amendment, which increased fees for H-1B visas to $5,000, was passed 59-35.
- The Vitter amendment, which would have prevented legalisation for the undocumented by eliminating the proposed Z visa programme, was defeated 29-66.
Diaspora now the ‘buyaspora’?
Monday, May 21st, 2007“The Irish diaspora has become the Irish buyaspora”, Alastair Adair, a professor of real estate at the University of Ulster, has told the Chicago Tribune. Professor Adair was commenting on the career of Garrett Kelleher, the returned emigrant who is building North America’s tallest skyscraper.
Professor Adair also noted that last year, Irish real estate investors poured $18 billion into property deals, mainly in Europe and the US East Coast.
He added, “It’s a new era in which Irish developers are seeking a global profile by identifying opportunities to own iconic buildings. ”
As for Mr Kelleher, the 45-year-old real estate developer began his construction career in London as a labourer, before moving to New York and then Chicago; he returned home in 1995 with a “substantial amount” of money. He started his Dublin company, Shelbourne Development Ltd, that year, and is now worth about $1 billion.
He is currently building the 150-story Spire in Chicago, a $1.5-billion project. He expects half the buyers to be foreign.
Read the full article on the Chicago Tribune website.
US Senate makes deal on undocumented
Friday, May 18th, 2007Irish immigration advocates in the US have welcomed the agreement hammered out yesterday by Democratic and Republican senators, which would provide a channel for the 12 million undocumented immigrants to achieve legal status.
The proposals would allow for the vast majority of today’s undocumented to register, pay a fine of €5,000, and undergo security screenings; in return, they will get work authorisation, travel permission, and protection from deportation.
On the negative side, the bill includes a “touchback” provision, that would require undocumented immigrants to make a costly trip back to their home country to apply for adjustment. In addition, the deal will create a large number of workers with only temporary visas, which could lead to increasing numbers of undocumented in the future.
Perhaps the most dramatic change is the institution of a points system and the elimination of family ties as the foundation of immigration.
Sheila Gleeson of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers calls the deal “a major step forward”, and says that Senators Kennedy, Menendez, Feinstein, and Salazar are to be commended for getting this compromise hammered out”.
The bill will be debated in the Senate next week; once the Senate process is completed, the House of Representatives will take on the issue.
Drogheda exhibition looks at lives of US undocumented
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007The lives of the undocumented Irish in the US are explored in a new photo exhibition opening at the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda. “Far from home: A chronicle of the undocumented Irish in the United States” is a collection of images by Drogheda-born, New York-based photographer Seán McPhail. The exhbition is sponsored by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.
It runs from March 30 to April 27.
See more at the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform website.
Visit the Highlanes Gallery.
Boston Globe articles highlight changing migration patterns
Tuesday, March 20th, 2007The Boston Globe has run a two-part series of articles focusing on the experiences of the Irish in Boston. By Kevin Cullen, the series opens with a description of a new version of the “American Wake” – a goodbye held in Quincy pub for an undocumented couple as they prepare to head home for Ireland, giving up their Boston lives after seven years. The article describes how the Irish immigrant experience has changed dramatically as the community shrinks and enforcement increases.
The second article in the series describes the experiences of those who have conm home, and how returning emigrants are coping with the changes that have taken place in the last few years.
Read the series:
“Wave of Irish immigration to Boston begins to slow“.
“Going full circle: Native land’s new prosperity has many reversing their exodus”