Oireachtas Committee to discuss illegal Irish in US

The Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs is to discuss the situation of the illegal Irish in America next week.

A bill working its way through the US Congress makes it virtually impossible to live in America unless one has the correct papers.

It is estimated that there are close to 50,000 Irish people living illegally in the US.

The Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael Woods said: “It is a very critical time – we’ve got to get across to our people that these will cause great difficulty between Ireland and the States and our members are very strongly opposed to the bill.

"We understand that it is in reaction to 9/11, and that was a tragedy, but this is an over-reaction,” he said.