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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Limerick man’s visit home results in US visa trouble
Monday, February 26th, 2007A 35-year-old Limerick native has been prevented from returning to his pregnant wife in Iowa by US immigration authorities. Jimmy Murphy of Newcastle West has been married less than a year to Iowa native Rachele Murphy; he was employed in the US and had applied for adjustment of status, which he was told would take nine months. He had all his papers in order when the couple decided to take a New Year’s trip to Ireland; Mr Murphy was detained at Dublin Airport because he had breached the terms of his status upgrade application.
Attempts to resolve the situation have so far failed. The US embassy in Dublin no longer has the authority to process the case, and Mr Murphy has been told he needs to present himself to authorities in the US, although he has been prevented from re-entering the country. Local officials are hoping that Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern may assist in resolving the issue.
Mr Murphy told the Limerick Leader:
“My wife is three months pregnant. We were starting off on a new life, with our first child on the way and had never been happier. I had always had my papers in order. The packet of documents which I had received when applying for adjustment of status did not say that I was to remain in America while the application was being processed. The first I knew was when I was turned back at Shannon.”
See the Limerick Leader for the full report.
US candidate releases statement on Ireland
Monday, February 19th, 2007US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama released a foreign-policy statement on Ireland shortly after he officially declared his candidacy. In the op-ed, which was carried in full by New York’s Irish Echo and the Irish Times, he praises the contributions of Irish immigrants and expresses his support for comprehensive immigration reform to benefit the 12 million undocumented in the US.
He says, in full:
“My family’s story may be familiar to Irish Americans — a distant homeland, a journey across an ocean in search of opportunity. Like many Americans of Irish descent, I too have made the journey to my family’s homeland.
“In 1987, I first traveled to Kenya, the birthplace of my father. I discovered a warm sense of community. I discovered a land with an unforgettably haunting beauty. I discovered a people determined to grab hold of hope. In short, I made discoveries that are familiar to scores of Irish Americans.
“The determined optimism of the Irish people has enabled them to grab hold of hope in the United States, from South Boston to the south side of Chicago. It’s an optimism expressed in three issues so important to Irish Americans today: a lasting peace in Northern Ireland, an American immigration policy that keeps faith with our tradition of offering opportunity to those who seek it, and strong economic and cultural ties between our two nations.
“As I chair the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Europe, and as I travel around the country learning from and listening to the American people, I will be advancing ideas and policies to meet these goals.
“After years of hard-earned progress, Northern Ireland is now poised to take another step forward. The IRA has abandoned violence and arms and Sinn Fein has now voted to support the PSNI. They have, in the words of Tony Blair, made a commitment that ‘has been historic and has been real.’
“To seize this hopeful moment, the Democratic Unionist party should take the next step outlined in the St. Andrew’s agreement: a commitment to a power-sharing executive after March elections, so Northern Ireland can continue the process of peace that its people so clearly wish to follow.
“The gains of the last decade were in part made possible by U.S. engagement. Going forward, we should continue the practice of having a special envoy for Northern Ireland, and the our president should personally engage on where America can play a constructive role, working closely with the Irish Taoiseach, the British prime minister, and party leaders in Northern Ireland.
“We must also pursue immigration policies that keep open the doors of opportunity in our own country. My father’s experience has informed my own views on the issue, and I have seen the enormous contributions that Irish immigrants have made to this country. Last summer, I joined hundreds of thousands of people in Chicago to march on behalf of immigration reform, walking shoulder to shoulder with many Irish Americans who shared their own personal stories of hope and opportunity.
“Yet our system is broken, and fixing it demands a comprehensive approach. Last year, I reached across the aisle to work with Republicans on this. Our proposal would strengthen border security and prohibit employers from hiring illegal immigrants, but it also recognizes that the deportation of 12 million people is impossible.
“That’s why it proposes a tough, earned path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally; replaces the flood of undocumented workers with a new flow of guestworkers; and ensures that law-abiding immigrants are welcome to pursue their dreams.
“The ties between America and Ireland go far beyond bloodlines. U.S. investment in Ireland helped create the Celtic Tiger, and Ireland’s economic success has in turn led to a boom in Irish investment in the United States. Incalculable cultural exchanges draw us together, as do common causes and common beliefs.
“In 1963, John F. Kennedy made his own journey in reverse and addressed the Irish Parliament. He cited the principles that unite our countries, quoting George Bernard Shaw’s command to ‘dream of things that never were, and ask why not,’ and paying tribute to an Ireland that ‘sent their doctors and technicians and soldiers and priests to help other lands to keep their liberty alive.’
“Today, President Kennedy would be pleased – but not surprised – to find the Irish working to lift up other lands from east Africa to east Asia, and to find an Ireland that has come so very far on its own. The story of our two countries is constantly evolving and joined together. I welcome this opportunity to be a part of that story, and look forward to hearing your concerns in the months ahead.”
US immigrants face application fee hikes
Friday, February 2nd, 2007U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services this week announced proposals for major hikes in application fees. The increases, in some cases amounting to 500%, are expected to go through in June.
The proposed application fee increases include:
– $905 for a green card application; thecurrent fee is $325.
– $1,370 for adjustment of status from temporary to lawful permanent resident, up from $180.
– $340 for work authorization, up from $180.
– $595 for naturalized citizenship, up from $330.
– $290 to replace a lost or stolen green card, up from $190.
“We’re confident that this fee adjustment will enable the type of exceptional immigration service our nation expects and deserves,” said a statement from USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez on Wednesday.
Immigration advocates, however, say the price hikes will pose a significant obstacle for many immigrants.
The proposals are subject to a public comment period; to comment, visit www.regulations.gov; use the “agency� box to click on “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services� and hit “submit�. You will then be shown the document, “Adjustment of the Immigration and Naturalization Benefit Application and Petition Fee Schedule�. Click on the “Docket ID� to read the comments submitted, and “Document ID� for instructions on making a comment.
US President calls for reform in address
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007US President George Bush included a call for comprehensive immigration reform in his State of the Union address last night. He said:
Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America, with laws that are fair and borders that are secure. When laws and borders are routinely violated, this harms the interests of our country. To secure our border, we’re doubling the size of the Border Patrol and funding new infrastructure and technology.
Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border, and that requires a temporary worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis. As a result, they won’t have to try to sneak in, and that will leave border agents free to chase down drug smugglers and criminals and terrorists. We’ll enforce our immigration laws at the worksite, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers, so there’s no excuse left for violating the law. We need to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals. We need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country, without animosity and without amnesty.
Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration. Let us have a serious, civil, and conclusive debate so that you can pass, and I can sign, comprehensive immigration reform into law.
Hopes for reform rise as Congress resumes
Thursday, January 4th, 2007As US Congress resumes its work this week, New York’s Irish Echo says that expectations are rising that that the Senate will pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill by spring. Ray O’Hanlon says a Senate bill on the issue, written by Senator Edward Kennedy and Senator John McCain, is slated for unveiling in January; a two to three month period of deliberation is likely. This bill will be similar to last year’s McCain/Kennedy reform bill, but it may not require undocumented immigrants to first leave the US before undergoing the process of earning legal US residence. This would be a significant improvement, as current legislation would ban undocumented immigrants from returning to the US for periods as long as ten years.
The report says the House of Representatives is likely to take longer to pass its own immigration measure, although it is now being written by Democratic Representative Luis Gutierez and Republican Representative Jeff Flake. The battle over immigration reform is likely to be more contentious in the House; some of the incoming Democratic senators had campaigned against measures that would legalise the undocumented.
Meanwhile, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform is planning to rally in Washington on March 7.
Read more on the Irish Echo website.
Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform responds to NY Times
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006Niall O’Dowd, the chair of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform in New York, has a spirited reply to yesterday’s New York Times article critiquing his group’s efforts. In a letter to the editor published today, O’Dowd says that he is sorry the journalist didn’t stay for the group’s full meeting, as he might have heard uncodumented immigrants describing the difficulties of their plight; O’Dowd describes two women, one who held “a wake without a body” in the Bronx to mourn her brother, killed in a car crash in Ireland, and the other who relayed the sadness of her aging parents as they prepare to spend another Christmas without their daughter.
O’Dowd says:
He might have also heard that out of 1.2 million green cards issued last year, Ireland got about 2,000, and that there is no legal way for the Irish to emigrate here anymore.
These are serious issues, and ones that my organization was set up to address. We make no apology for doing so, the same as the Hispanic or any other lobby should make no apology for advocating for its people.
O’Dowd adds that the organisation has a good working relationship with other ethnic groups through membership in umbrella group Comprehensive Immigration Reform Now.
Read the letter on the New York Times site.
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