Group launches petition for Irish illegals in US

Campaigners battling to ensure the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish living in the United States be allowed stay today launched a petition seeking the public's support.

Irish Voices is urging people to write down the experiences of illegal aliens working in the United States.

New legislation on immigration reform is debated in the US Senate. The bill could see penalties imposed on those living and working illegally in the United States but also open the door to permanency for millions of others.

The US Senate this week began considering the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The proposed legislation creates a system of penalties for foreign-born residents who entered the country illegally, but it also allows up to 12 million illegals in the United States to get on a path to eventual citizenship.

The next fortnight could prove crucial as senators prepare to vote on providing a solution for the tens of thousands of undocumented Irish living and working in the United States, some of whom have not returned home for several years.

Speaking at the launch of the petition in Dublin today, campaign organiser Tom Reddy said the petition would thrust thousands of hidden and anonymous people into the public domain and a human face would be given to every statistic at the centre of lobbying for immigration reform.

He warned: "Time is running out. Within weeks they could be free to apply for US citizenship or alternately be criminalised and deported.

"The undocumented Irish live life in the grey shadows of the USA and have a worrying and uncertain future -  within days, their lives face endorsement or ruin."

President Mary McAleese, who is on a visit to the United States, yesterday welcomed President Bush's intervention in the immigration debate as a hopeful sign for undocumented Irish immigrants. In a televised address, Mr Bush called for comprehensive immigration reform.

"I think the seeds of hope are there that the Irish undocumented, who are a tiny fraction of the undocumented in the United States . . . that their very complex, difficult situation will be resolved, hopefully in the medium term. It's very good to see it so high on President Bush's agenda," she said.

"The numbers [of undocumented Irish] are relatively modest, but they are people for whom we would have a lot of pity and compassion because they are people who have made their homes here and have made their contribution economically here and whose children are growing up as Americans," she said.