An Irish face on the cause of citizenship

[Kajikit 65]

An Irish Face on the Cause of Citizenship

NY Times, March 16, 2006

By NINA BERNSTEIN

Rory Dolan's, a restaurant in Yonkers, was packed with hundreds of illegal Irish immigrants on that rainy Friday night in January when the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform called its first meeting. Niall O'Dowd, the chairman, soon had them cheering.

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Ruby Washington/The New York Times

Niall O'Dowd says the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform will seek a special arrangement for the Irish if a broad immigration bill fails.

"You're not just some guy or some woman in the Bronx, you're part of a movement," Mr. O'Dowd told the crowd of construction workers, students and nannies. He was urging them to support a piece of Senate legislation that would let them work legally toward citizenship, rather than punishing them with prison time, as competing bills would.

For months, coalitions of Latino, Asian and African immigrants from 50 countries have been championing the same measure with scant attention, even from New York's Democratic senators. But the Irish struck out on their own six weeks ago, and as so often before in the history of American immigration policy, they have landed center stage.

Last week, when Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer declared their support for a new path to citizenship, and denounced criminal penalties recently passed by the House of Representatives, they did so not at the large, predominantly Hispanic immigrant march on Washington, but at the much smaller Irish rally held there the following day.

Some in the immigrant coalitions resent being passed over, and worry that the Irish are angling for a separate deal. Others welcome the clout and razzmatazz the Irish bring to a beleaguered cause. And both groups can point to an extraordinary Irish track record of lobbying triumphs, like the creation of thousands of special visas in the 1980's and 90's that one historian of immigration, Roger Daniels, calls "affirmative action for white Europeans."

Mainly, though, they marvel at the bipartisan muscle and positive spin the illegal Irish can still muster, even as their numbers dwindle to perhaps 25,000 to 50,000 across the country — those left behind by a tide of return migration to a now-prosperous Ireland.

This week, as the Senate Judiciary Committee wrestles with a comprehensive immigration bill, towns across the country are preparing to celebrate their Irish roots. On Friday, St. Patrick's Day, President Bush is to meet with Ireland's prime minister, Bertie Ahern, who has vowed to put the legalization of the Irish at the top of his agenda. And Irish Lobby volunteers are ready to leverage the attention, with "Legalize the Irish" T-shirts and pressure on senators like Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, who is in a tight race against Bob Casey Jr., a Democrat of Irish ancestry.

The new Irish dynamic is all the more striking because the Republican Party is fiercely split over immigration, and many Democrats have hung back from the fray, judging the issue too hot to handle in an election year.

"They're still good at the game," said Linda Dowling Almeida, who teaches the history of Irish immigration at New York University. She and other historians noted that in the mid-19th century, Irish immigrants used the clout of urban political machines and leadership by the Roman Catholic Church to beat back a nativist movement that saw them as a threat to national security and American culture.

More recently, Mr. O'Dowd, the publisher of The Irish Voice, was himself part of a lobby that leaned on legislators with Irish heritage to engineer more than 48,000 visas for the Irish, legalizing many who had re-greened old Celtic neighborhoods in New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

But much has changed. After 9/11, a groundswell of anger over illegal immigration converged with national security concerns, propelling a populist revolt across party lines. Immigration is now seen as a no-win issue in electoral politics. And both opponents and supporters of legalization take a more jaundiced view of the Irish role in the debate.

"They're essentially saying, 'Look, we're good European illegal immigrants,' " said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports the House and Senate measures that would turn "unlawful presence," now a civil violation, into a crime. "The reason they've been more successful is the same reason it appeals to editors — immigration nostalgia from 150 years ago."

Cont at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/nyregion...=th&oref=slogin

*****

I have to say, why should any particular ethnic grouping get special treatment over the others? Because they're white and speak English and come from Europe? Pull the other one - it plays jingle bells. If Ireland is such a properous country nowadays they should be able to afford visas to come here legally. I have a lot more sympathy for illegal immigrants from poor countries than rich ones.

[irishgirl73 0]

[Satisfaction 1]

This is a frequent subject of discussion in Irish bars and in "The Irish Voice", a newspaper available in New York stands .... A toast to our Irish amigos, Cheers!

[Satisfaction 1]

I have to say, why should any particular ethnic grouping get special treatment over the others? Because they're white and speak English and come from Europe? Pull the other one - it plays jingle bells. If Ireland is such a properous country nowadays they should be able to afford visas to come here legally. I have a lot more sympathy for illegal immigrants from poor countries than rich ones.

Amiga, maybe you forgot about the "potato famine" that ruined countless Irish lives? Times have certainly changed a bit in Ireland since the potato famine, however I doubt that the folks who came to America left a much better life in Shannon or Dublin. Or perhaps you haven't meet any of them yet... Immigrants are treated like dirt, it really doesn't matter where they come from.

[rebeccajo 14]

I'm sorry. Illegal is illegal. I don't care where you are from.

Reform needs to come in another way. It used to be (immigration nostalgia) you could just get on a boat and register yourself at Ellis Island. Now you have to have a reason - student, job, marriage. Give me your tired, your hungry, your poor is now replaced with isolatism.

The cure is not in handing out free passes to those who have tried to circumvent the isolatism. The cure is to turn the tide on it.

[meauxna 15]

I have to say, why should any particular ethnic grouping get special treatment over the others? Because they're white and speak English and come from Europe? Pull the other one - it plays jingle bells. If Ireland is such a properous country nowadays they should be able to afford visas to come here legally. I have a lot more sympathy for illegal immigrants from poor countries than rich ones.

This is the rally I was talking about in the Guest Worker thread.. I watched part of it on TV and you've hit it on the head.. they are playing the race card and aren't even shy about it.

To break into the country illegally, knowing it's an illegal act and knowing that you are going to work the system over, and then to demand a special act to legitimate your crimes.. too much gall and not enough humility.

Hillary really lost ground with me here.. might have even been the final straw for me, where she's shown herself to be no better than the career politicians so many of us are already sick of.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I think most of the people who came to the US because of the the potato famine are already a citizen because they were born here, as were about 4-5 generations before them. EU membership and funding and the Celtic Tiger are a little more recent - people from Ireland are hardly the oppressed masses living in thatched cottages heated by a peat fire

[Mand 1]

I think most of the people who came to the US because of the the potato famine are already a citizen because they were born here, as were about 4-5 generations before them. EU membership and funding and the Celtic Tiger are a little more recent - people from Ireland are hardly the oppressed masses living in thatched cottages heated by a peat fire

I agree. I hate the stereotypical image of Ireland, and it's just so embarrassing to see this continually used today, even by born and bred Irish themselves.

[Kajikit 65]

The potato famine was centuries ago! At the time, yes, I can understand entirely why people were leaving... and if there was suddenly a major crisis like that there I'd understand people wanting to jump ship again. But there's not. From everything I've heard, conditions in Ireland have been continually improving.

If you want to be a refugee, you have to have something to take refuge FROM... just saying 'I want to go to America and I don't want to wait for paperwork' isn't good enough.

[Satisfaction 1]

The Cyclops are back... Perhaps I didn't express myself very well or you can't read between the lines. I was not implying that Ireland today is the same as Ireland in the 19th century. Obviously, Irish folks don't immigrate en masse to the New World anymore. Then again, the few illegal Irish immigrants who are here today obviously are not here for pleasure, and haven't left their homeland because they were so much better off back home, neither have the 10 or so million undocumented foreign workers currently on US soil. All I can say is that the narrow minded, ignorant, phobic attitude of the 19th or 20th centuries is exactly the same which now targets the newcomers from other parts of the world. It's the same story, only the names changed. Whether people like immigrants or not, legal or not, really, I don't care anymore. I've come to the conclusion that one can't open the Cyclops eye no matter what.

[durruscowboy 0]

Hi Satisfaction,

You certainly appear to be on a different planet. Illegal immigrants are illegal aliens, whether they come from Ireland, Peru, Bangledesh, Mexico or anywhere else for that matter. I find it sickening that some Irish have hopped on the bandwagon and played the old Irish tune that they should get special treatment when it comes to legalising them. The arguement in the media at home in Ireland that these people should be given a break is just ludicrous. Yes they should be given a break if every other nationality gets one, but to single out a nation just because of the ties that the two countries have is not right. Illegal Irish claim that they can't come home to see family and for funerals etc. They can buy an airline ticket right. This whole fiasco just makes a mockery of all the genuine people that do everything by the book and make the sacrifices to get into this country in the first place. As for your comment about the poor people of Shannon and Dublin and putting it into the context that a lot of people come here as a nessecity to get out poverty at home, i can only say that i think you are talking out of your posterier. The vast majority of people who came to the US in the last 20 years or so are not peasants. In fact i know of numerous people who in the last number of years have arrived here to work and are from well off families. They didn't leaving because the potato harvest failed!! I think you should see if you can catch a ride back to your Galaxy.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

It's actually pretty straightforward -- a group of illegal immigrants who are probably in the least need of amnesty are getting special attention from mainstream politicians, including a frontrunner for president. Why? Because they are white and from Western Europe and speak English. Hillary wouldn't dare appear in front of a group of illegal Mexicans or Venezuelans or Zimbabweans demanding citizenship because it would be political suicide. I think everyone on this thread (from what I have read) have expressed nuanced opinions about immigration policy, I'm not too sure who the "cyclops" are supposed to be.

Besides, in spite of your rather condescending remarks I don't think you have any clue what modern Ireland looks like, and probably aren't aware that the state of the Irish economy has created some immigrations issues of its own for Ireland.

[rebeccajo 14]

Besides, in spite of your rather condescending remarks I don't think you have any clue what modern Ireland looks like, and probably aren't aware that the state of the Irish economy has created some immigrations issues of its own for Ireland.

Indeed it has.

[Satisfaction 1]

Hi durruscowboy

People who obtain working visas are not illegal aliens. The 50,000 Irish who are undocumented are in a very different situation than foreign workers who have entered the US with a working visa, and so are folks from Mexico, India or Bangadesh or another "galaxy" in this regard. Weatlhy folks don't typically need to immigrate to America for a better future and certainly don't need to remain here illegally unless perhaps they are totally misguided philanthropist millionaires. Let's see... I have a million and I'm going to involve myself in some projects, what about engaging in some community activities in the Bronx?......hmm. I think it's rather a good idea!

What you say about the Irish seeking special treatment is totally false. They are fighting for the rights of the immigrant community, not just themselves. I have not implied/written that Irish illegals are "peasants" (perhaps your backwards looking - impaired vision is why you can't read?). In fact, their cognition is fully developped and functional, as opposed to yours.

As far as for me living in another galaxy, it suits me perfectly fine as long as it is as far away as possible from the Cyclops galaxy of yours. It doesn't matter if you think you have some superior insight into life. The fact is, nobody cares. Anyway, let me not waste time and let you guys talk, I have to pack for the long journey back to my galaxy... B)

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Oh they're fighting for the rights of everyone are they? What was that about not being able to read?:

Niall O'Dowd says the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform will seek a special arrangement for the Irish if a broad immigration bill fails.

For months, coalitions of Latino, Asian and African immigrants from 50 countries have been championing the same measure with scant attention, even from New York's Democratic senators. But the Irish struck out on their own six weeks ago, and as so often before in the history of American immigration policy, they have landed center stage.

Last week, when Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer declared their support for a new path to citizenship, and denounced criminal penalties recently passed by the House of Representatives, they did so not at the large, predominantly Hispanic immigrant march on Washington, but at the much smaller Irish rally held there the following day.

Some in the immigrant coalitions resent being passed over, and worry that the Irish are angling for a separate deal. Others welcome the clout and razzmatazz the Irish bring to a beleaguered cause. And both groups can point to an extraordinary Irish track record of lobbying triumphs, like the creation of thousands of special visas in the 1980's and 90's that one historian of immigration, Roger Daniels, calls "affirmative action for white Europeans."

I could tell you that average household income in Ireland is roughly 50,000 euros a year and unemployment is below 5%, but since you don't seem interested in using reason to back up your arguments, I'm reminded of me of the scene in Annie Hall where Woody Allen tells Christopher Walken "I have to go now, because I, I'm due back on the planet Earth"