America is about diversity, George Mitchell warns Mike Pence

Former US special envoy to Northern Ireland George Mitchell has issued a hard-hitting put down to the US administration, insisting America is about diversity and not “who we want to keep out and throw out”.

At the high-profile American Ireland Gala Fund dinner in Washington DC on Wednesday, in front of US vice-president Mike Pence, Mr Mitchell said immigration reforms must not lead to “hostility and exclusion” for minority groups.

In a speech focussing on immigration, Mr Mitchell, who played a key role in the North’s peace process, stressed that, “from the very beginning, our country has been enriched by new ideas and new people”.

And, while noting Irish-Americans have been among those involved, he pointedly added that “Jewish, Catholics, Italians, Africans, and others” are also part of the fabric of the US — a situation he said must not be changed by any anti-immigration policies.

“Every rational American knows we cannot return to days of open immigration,” he said. “But we must work together on policies that focus on how we live up to our principles as an open and just society.

“The strength of America lies in our ideals. They’re not easily summarised, but surely include individual liberty, opportunity for all, an independent judiciary and commitment to those ideals.

“Commitment to these ideals makes us Americans, not ideals, race or religion. Mr Pence, you carry with us the best wishes of living up to these requirements.”

US President Donald Trump and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny meet for talks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

The speech was made just hours after a federal judge blocked US president Donald Trump’s revised Muslim travel ban from becoming law today, saying it was “flawed” — a move Mr Trump decried in Nashville, Tennessee, as “judicial overreach”.

Meanwhile, at the same American Ireland Gala Fund — which was also attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Ian Paisley Jr, Democrat leader of the house of representatives Nancy Pelosi, and 35 members of congress — Mr Pence vowed to strengthen the close ties between Ireland and America.

In an emotional speech which saw him refer to his Irish roots and spent as a child in Sligo and Mayo, Mr Pence said he was “proud to say with great confidence that our bound is strong and will grow stronger still”.

He said his Irish-born grandfather was the first person to enter his mind when he was made vice-president earlier this year.

Mr Pence was notably emotional when he was presented with a framed plaque of his grandfather’s primary school attendance roll from his childhood in Sligo and a similarly carved image of his family tree.

However, despite acknowledging the close links between the two nations, he pointedly failed to extend his interest in migrants to those who are not Irish.