State seeks deal with US over illegal Irish

THE Government last night agreed to seek a bilateral deal with the US that would legalise the undocumented Irish living there.

It came as a lobby group claimed the Government had so far failed to display the necessary political skill to secure a deal for the illegal Irish immigrants.

It had been hoped that the US Houses of Congress would approve comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would ease the plight of the Irish among others.

But hopes of such a legislative package faded in recent months, with little prospect of agreement in Congress on such measures.

Over the weekend, Fine Gael signalled it would be introducing a Dáil motion this week calling for the Government to refocus its efforts on a bilateral agreement between Ireland and the US, given that hopes of comprehensive immigration legislation had eroded.

However, because of the willingness to have cross-party unity when lobbying on the issue in the US, the Government and FG last night agreed a joint motion instead.

The motion expressed support for “ongoing discussions at the highest level with the US administration and Congress to establish reciprocal bilateral arrangements which would benefit Irish and US citizens seeking to work and travel in our two countries”.

Debate on the motion began last night and continues in the Dáil tonight.

Prior to the debate, a group lobbying on behalf of the undocumented Irish protested outside Leinster House.

The group, Friends and Families of the Irish Undocumented in the US, acknowledged that the Government had been pressing the issue with the Bush administration.

But group spokeswoman Kate Hickey said the Government had failed to secure a deal when other countries, such as Australia, had reached agreement with the US on visa issues.

“All it took was for [Australian prime minister] John Howard to go over there for two days [and] talk it out. In two days, he came home with 10,000 visas. There’s no reason why the Irish can’t receive those as well.

“The point of it is the Irish [politicians] have to know how to deal with US politics, and they have to realise that if they don’t get up to the table, it’s not going to happen. That’s how it works. The Australians recognised that and did it.”

However, while Australia did secure a visa deal from the US, it did not apply to illegal immigrants.

Under the E3 visa agreement, introduced in 2005, 10,500 visas are reserved each year exclusively for qualifying Australian nationals who wish to live and work in the US.

However, undocumented Australians already in the US are excluded from the agreement. It is therefore unlikely that the Government would use the Australian deal as a template.