Immigrants caught in a policy contradiction

AS President Mary McAleese concluded her Boston trip, spending much of her visit with Irish emigrants and organisations concerned with the cause of the thousands of undocumented Irish there, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan made changes to the work permit system here which will effectively force many immigrants into undocumented situations.

Surely the Tánaiste is aware of the struggle of those individuals and families originally from her own constituency in Donegal who have become undocumented in the US, as well as her own Government’s advocacy efforts to regularise them.

What then is the sense in pushing immigrants in Ireland into the same situation?

Do immigrants here not work as hard, support families and contribute to the social and economic life of their communities?

Yin Li

High Street

Christchurch

Dublin 8