Irish Examiner view: Time for more humane policies on immigration in Ireland

Irish governments have often sought amnesties for Irish in the US. We should be prepared to offer that to asylum seekers here

At a protest march in Cork city last year a woman holds a sign calling for an end to direct provision. Picture: Larry Cummins.

US president Joe Biden has signed executive orders aimed at undoing the immigration policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. 

That will be good news mostly for Mexican immigrants and their families, but also for the thousands of undocumented Irish in the United States.

It should also act as a signal for the Irish government to adopt more humane policies on immigration here.

Biden's orders aim to reunite migrant children separated from their families at the Mexican border and make it easier for foreign workers and students to enter the country.

Announcing the changes, White House press secretary Jen Psaki spoke of a "moral" and "humane" immigration system. 

We in Ireland would do well to emulate the compassion that underpins those changes, considering we still have hundreds of families living in limbo in direct provision.

The Government's white paper on ending direct provision will be published this month. It will hopefully transform a 20-year system that has done harm to the most vulnerable of people. 

It follows a report by Dr Catherine Day, whose advisory group recommends radical change, including a five-year amnesty for asylum seekers who have been in Ireland longer than two years.

Successive Irish governments have sought similar treatment for undocumented Irish in the US. How can we reasonably ask for amnesty if we are not prepared to give it?