OLDEST IRISH AMERICAN NEWSPAPER IN USA, ESTABLISHED IN 1928
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Undocumented face uncertain future

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Kieran O’Sullivan of Boston’s Irish Immigration Center has worked to secure visas for at least two generations of arriving Irish immigrants and in the process he has learned how to recognize the likely visa adjustment chances of each arriving group.
“The outlook for recent Irish immigrants is dire,” he said firmly. “As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the situation as bad as it is now.”
Although in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently signed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” executive order that explicitly bars city workers from asking or disclosing the immigration status of city residents, affording them some protection, undocumented Irish immigrants in the rest of the nation have not fared so well. In Massachusetts, for example, it has become commonplace for police officers to detain suspected illegal immigrants, pending deportation. The Boston Irish Immigration Center is aware of several such cases this year. Said O’Sullivan, “Irish illegal immigrants can be detained and put in jail with no right to a judge — because they waive that right under the visitors visa program — and those who aren’t immediately deported can spend months awaiting a decision.”
Adding to the many woes of this benighted generation of Irish arrivals are the stringent new Department of Homeland Security background checks at U.S. airports that identify out-of-status passengers to immigration officials — in many cases before they even present themselves for clearance at customs.
“Between 6,000 and 8,000 Irish immigrants arrive in the United States every year,” O’Sullivan said. “And now their data can be transmitted to immigration officials while they’re still in flight, so if there’s any question about their immigration status, it will be known to the authorities right away. As a result of the DHS, we’ve seen much closer scrutiny and a related increase in denials of entry and deportations.”
To many Irish observers there’s more than an echo of the tradition of the emigrant wake in the current immigration arrangements: if you arrive, you had better be prepared to stay; if you want to stay, you will have to gamble on everything you have built up being lost, and if for any reason you have to leave the United States — to attend a family wedding or a funeral, say — without question you won’t be able to return here for at least 10 years. (Currently, individuals who overstay their visitors’ visas here by up to 180 days are subject to a three-year bar; and those who overstay by up to one year are subject to a 10-year bar).
O’Sullivan’s advice to those who find they must leave the country is simple: “I would say to them, don’t go. But if you absolutely must, make a point of talking to an immigrant support center before you leave.”
A representative example of the difficulties posed by the present immigration arrangements was given to the Echo by a recent Irish immigrant who gave just his first name. “Paul” is 32, married and, like his wife, he can not now return to Ireland under any circumstances.
“We arrived here a few years ago with just $250 between us,” he said, laughing. “I went to work the next day. In the last few years I’ve progressed to the point where I’ve started a general construction company that now employs up to 20 people.”
A modest American success story, then, but with an unfortunate catch: although he consistently pays his taxes and social security, he cannot ever avail of their benefits, nor can he hope to expand his business beyond a certain level, for fear of attracting too much attention. (Undocumented workers contributed over $4 billion to Social Security in the United States in 1998. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Commission, has acknowledged that the contributions of immigrants will be vital to sustain Medicare and social security).
Before the events of Sept. 11 overtook the nation both Paul and his wife tried every legal channel to adjust their visa status. In the last five years he has spent over $9,000 on attorneys fees alone. But, consistently, there is always some unforeseen legal roadblock to frustrate his efforts: the 245(i) bill, for example, applied only to immigrants who were employed by others, while Paul was self-employed. Each of his previous attempts to adjust his status fared no better.
And although he admits the emotional toll of being cut off from returning to Ireland does not affect him greatly, he knows that for his wife it’s a different story: “Every single day she talks about it,” he said. “She often cries about it, too.”
And there’s no relief in sight.

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