The Government raised the possibility of visa waivers that would allow illegal Irish in the US to travel back and forth to Ireland freely three weeks before the Taoiseach discussed the issue with president Barack Obama during their Oval Office meeting on St Patrick's Day.
The Department of Foreign Affairs wrote to the US embassy on February 24th to highlight the plight of the so-called “undocumented” Irish in the US and in particular mentioned the prospect of illegal Irish being allowed to be free to travel home for family occasions through a visa waiver scheme.
Under US immigration rules, any illegal Irish immigrants in the US who travel home to Ireland are barred from re-entering the US for three years, if they outstayed an earlier visa by less than a year, and for 10 years, if the period of illegality is greater than a year.
In its letter to the embassy, the department asked about the chances of the illegal Irish being granted a waiver on their return to Ireland for the prior period of their illegal residence in the US.
The US embassy acknowledged receipt of the letter and indicated it hoped to respond in due course.
Irish immigration lobbyists have been pushing for a waiver scheme for the Irish migrants to travel back and forth freely, but the Obama administration has played down the possibility of this happening outside of a congressional reform of the country’s immigration laws.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny raised the issue of the illegal Irish, estimated by the Government to number about 50,000, stressing in meetings with senior Obama administration officials and members of Congress that almost every family in Ireland is related to or knows somebody affected by the inability to return home for family events.
Meeting
Mr Kenny discussed the possible visa waivers with Mr Obama during their meeting last week. He highlighted the issue of those amongst the Irish "undocumented" who might be eligible for visas, but who would be required to return to Ireland to be issued with the visa and would also need waivers against the three- and 10-year bars for the period they were illegal in the US if they wanted to return to the US.
In November Mr Obama bypassed long-standing Republican opposition in Congress to comprehensive immigration reform by introducing executive actions that would shield up to five million illegal immigrants from deportation for three years.
Immigrants who were parents of US citizens or legal residents and who had been living in the US for at least five years were eligible to benefit from the actions.
Waivers on three- and 10-year bars to re-entry for immigrants qualifying for Mr Obama’s executive actions were included in the president’s executive actions, but their implementation would be at the discretion of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr Obama’s immigration actions were blocked by a US court last month after Republican governors took a court challenge against them, claiming he was acting unlawfully.
‘Somewhat intractable’
Mr Kenny told a group of Irish-American dignitaries at a St Patrick's Day breakfast in the residence of US vice-president Joe Biden that the issue of immigration reform might be "somewhat intractable" but urged US lawmakers to try to find an agreement that would fix the US immigration system and help the illegal Irish.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan told The Irish Times: "The matter of immigration reform continues to be a priority for my department. The Government is in constant contact with the US, most recently during the Taoiseach's visit to Washington, to promote immigration reform and to press for any viable opportunities which would be of potential value to the Irish undocumented.
“The Government as a whole, including my department in Dublin and our embassy in Washington, will continue to follow up on all issues with the US administration, with Congress and with the US embassy in Ireland.”
