Irish rally for immigration bill

Hundreds of Irish immigrants from Queens packed buses, drove to Washington, D.C. and lobbied U.S. lawmakers to allow illegal immigrants to gain permanent residency.
At 4 a.m., the buses picked up about 300 people at The Gaslight in Sunnyside and The Cuckoo’s Nest in Woodside. The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), who organized the trip from seven U.S. cities hopes to sway Congress with the Wednesday March 8 rally.
“We are just hoping to pitch in and help out any which way we can,” said Siobhan Dennehy, from the Emerald Isle Immigration Center in Woodside. “A lot of clients we see would benefit hugely from the bill.”
The bill, a McCain-Kennedy creation, would give undocumented immigrants, who were in the United States in May 2005, temporary legal status. Illegal Irish residents, numbering 40,000 to 50,000 in the United States, would be allowed to come forward, pay $1,000, undergo background checks, and then apply for a work permit. After six years of working and paying taxes in the U.S., temporary workers could apply for permanent residency. The McCain/Kennedy bill would also give working visas to a long backlog of applicants from Ireland. After a review by the judiciary committee, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on immigration reform later this month.
But the pro-immigrant bill faces competition from legislation championed by Congressman James Sensenbrenner and passed by the House in December. This conservative bill would make all undocumented immigrants in the United States criminals - rather than civil offenders — and require applicants for drivers’ licenses to have a valid Social Security number, a condition that immigration advocacy groups have called foul.
Senators including Charles Schumer have already condemned Sensenbrenner’s legislation and spoken out in favor of the McCain/Kennedy bill.
“I love America, and I truly believe that the more Irish there are here, the better America is,” Schumer told 1,000 Irish immigrants in Queens last month, according to published reports.
The rally at St. Mary’s Parish Hall in Woodside was one of seven scheduled across the country to bolster action on the part of undocumented Irish.
“Last night [in Woodside] the speakers were so inspiring and comforting that I honestly felt like crying,” wrote Breda in her post “I am Ready to Fight” on the Irish Voices blog. “I had another miserable Christmas, missed weddings, funerals, unable to comfort sick relatives, see my parents, sisters, brothers and nieces and nephews. I never felt like I had a right to feel bad or mad. Now I realize that I should feel angry.”