Kenny passes on immigrant talk

Kenny was due to meet Tuesday with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs to answer questions about the plight of the undocumented Irish living in the U.S. But he pulled out of the Leinster House meeting at the last minute, apparently after he learned that the hearing was a public one.
The Irish Independent reported that Kenny had signaled that he was prevented by protocol from appearing before the committee, which is made up of TDs and senators from all parties.
The U.S. embassy wrote to committee chairman Michael Woods explaining the ambassador’s problem with attendance.
Kenny’s predecessor, Richard Egan, appeared before the same committee in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. But that session was private.
The discussion on the undocumented, however, would have taken place with the press in attendance. Some members of the committee were expected to ask tough questions of the ambassador.
Woods told the Echo that Kenny had first indicated that he was happy to attend the meeting.
“But then the message came that he would only attend a closed-door private session,” the Dublin Fianna Fail TD said.
According to Woods, committee members wanted to query this negative response and make sure it wasn’t a precedent because other ambassadors, American ones included, had previously appeared before the committee to discuss general issues.
The meeting went ahead Tuesday, but the discussion on the undocumented was deferred until the next meeting, which is scheduled for Feb. 15.
Woods said that Kenny would be invited to that meeting, which would be held behind closed doors. He said he expected that Kenny would indicate a desire to attend.
“We assume that he will,” Woods said.
A U.S. embassy spokesman said that Kenny had asked the Joint Committee to defer this week’s meeting “due to a misunderstanding about the venue and the format of the meeting.” The spokesman said that Kenny was prepared to meet committee members to discuss the issue of the undocumented Irish and other matters. However, it was Department of State policy for ambassadors only to meet informally with parliamentary representatives.
Kenny has been in the public view in Ireland recently attempting to attract Irish college students back to the annual J1 summer work visa program. The number of Irish students taking up the JI option slumped last year because of delays in issuing them with the required U.S. Social Security numbers.
“Ambassador Kenny has been over most of the country touting the J1 program,” a spokeswoman at the embassy in Dublin said.
In 2000, 12,518 Irish students came to the U.S. for summer work under the program. That figure rose to 13,135 the following year. There was sharp drop to 8,915 in 2002, but this was almost entirely due to the fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks, the spokesman said.
The number of J1s picked up a little in 2003, when the total reached 9,367. But it dropped dramatically the following year, to 5,490.
This was due to “issues” with Social Security numbers, said the spokeswoman.
“Years ago the Social Security number was issues almost immediately but [in 2004] it was taking a month to six weeks so they couldn’t work,” the spokeswoman said in reference to J1 holders.
As a result, many Irish students simply gave up in frustration and returned to Ireland.
Kenny’s efforts to lure them back to the U.S., meanwhile, appear to be making progress. An embassy spokesman said “lots and lots of kids” were now turning up for J1 interviews at the Dublin embassy for the 2005 summer visa program.