EIIC Immigration Reform

Join the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform in the Return of The Irish to Washington on Wednesday, June 28.

WHY? Senator John McCain Senator John McCain said the ILIR helped change the minds of FIVE senators. That’s because YOU made your voices heard in Washington on March 8.

We need you back there one more time to make sure the House of Representatives hears us.

NEW YORK
Contact Conor at
914 595 2558
mybus@irishlobbyusa.org

Free buses leave from St Mary's Woodside at 5am

Katonah Avenue at 5am.

CIIC - Update on Immigration Reform legislation 6/6/06

The Senate voted 62 to 36 to approve compromise immigration reform legislation (S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006), thereby setting the stage for what will likely be a contentious House/Senate conference, in which the Senate-passed bill will now have to be harmonized with the harsh, enforcement-only bill (H.R. 4437) passed by the House in December. Despite attempts by a handful of Senators to fundamentally alter the bill that was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in March, the basic architecture of comprehensive immigration reform survived intact after nearly four weeks of Senate Floor debate on the measure and votes on more than 40 amendments.
The Senate bill includes a path to permanent legal status for many of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country, a new temporary worker program, significant increases in family- and employment-based permanent visas, important reforms to the agricultural worker program, significant reforms to the high-skilled immigration programs, and relief for undocumented high school graduates (DREAM Act). The bill also includes some very harsh enforcement provisions and erosion of due process protections that will need to be addressed and corrected as negotiations move forward.
Highlights

· Legalization program: An estimated 8 to 8.5 million undocumented immigrants will be able to come out of the shadows and be put on a path to permanent residence.
· AgJOBS included: A million undocumented agricultural workers would be put on a path to permanent residence through provisions targeted to these workers.
· DREAM included: Undocumented immigrant students will be put on a path to citizenship and so will be able to continue on to college along with their classmates.
· Significant increase in family visas: The family-based immigration system will be updated to speed family unification. It is expected to clear the backlog for family unification in approximately six years.
· Significant increase in employment visas: Employment-based visas are more than doubled to more realistically allow immigrants to come legally in the future to work.
· A new temporary worker program: The bill provides temporary visas to allow 200,000 persons to come legally each year and take jobs that are not being filled by American workers. This program includes worker protections, gives workers the ability to change employers, and provides a path to permanent residence for those who want to stay.

Lowlights

The bill contains many enforcement provisions that are symbolic, and unworkable.

· Some undocumented ineligible for legalization or unlikely to come forward: An estimated 2.5 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants will not be eligible to legalize or may be afraid to come forward because they arrived after the bill's cutoff date, or because certain provision in the law will make it risky for some undocumented immigrants to reveal themselves.
· Language hurdle to legalization: Undocumented immigrants who are legalizing will have to meet the same requirements for English and Civics knowledge as someone who is applying for citizenship.
· Flooding of FBI lookout list with non-criminal immigrant names: The bill would require that information on immigrants who are confirmed to be out of status be put in the National Crime Information Center database. This database is used by local police to find wanted criminals and the bill will flood the database with hundreds of thousands of names of immigrants who have not committed a criminal act.
· Punishment out of proportion to crime: the bill contains a number of provisions that will trip up immigrants even if they commit only minor offenses and expose them to indefinite detention or permanent exile from their families and adopted country.
· Wall on the border: The bill calls for at least 370 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.
· Reduced access to justice: A number of provisions in the bill will reduce the ability of immigrants to have their day in court when subject to a bad government decision including arbitrary or indefinite detention.
· Undermine the ability of government agencies to communicate with immigrants: A provision added to the bill making English the national language will make it more difficult for the federal government to effectively communicate critical information ; and
· Undermine Public Safety: Having state and local police enforce complicated immigration laws would discourage immigrants from coming forward to report crimes whether they are the victim or a witness.
· Penalize legalizing immigrants paying back taxes: A last-minute amendment to the bill creates significant hardship for many legalizing immigrants by denying them access to a number of tax credits -- including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) -- for the years prior to 2006. Immigrants who have to pay past tax obligations as part of the legalization process could face prohibitively high tax payments, potentially putting legalization out of their reach.

Support the campaign to win change for the undocumented Irish:
KEEP CALLING YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

The immigration debate is poised to heat up again in the U.S. Senate in the coming days, as both President George W. Bush and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist have said that they wish to see legislation passed and ready for a House/Senate conference by Memorial Day on May 29.

In a speech on Monday in California, Bush said that deporting the estimated 11-12 million undocumented residents of the U.S. would be “unrealistic . . . it’s just not going to work.

May 1st 2006

Day without Immigrants

The Irish lobby are encouraged to let their fingers do the marching - please keep calling and supporting reform

29th April 2006

Former Congressman Bruce Morrison says immigration reform can become a reality this year if the Irish keep up the fight.

FORMER Congressman Bruce Morrison, creator of the Morrison visas in the early 1990s, says both parties in Congress are now under pressure to pass immigration reform that the lobbying efforts must be stepped up in the weeks ahead.

Morrison was speaking to over 250 supporters of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) at the Irish American Center in Mineola, Long Island last Saturday night.

LIR founder and Chairman Niall O’Dowd said one of the key figures in the debate is Long Island Republican Congressman Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and a co-author of the House bill passed last year which would criminalize the undocumented.

“My gut feeling is that we will get a bill out of the Senate. But the battle will be in the House and we will be very dependent on Pete King,” O’Dowd said to the crowd. “One of the reasons we came to Long Island was to tell you, the Irish American voters in Long Island to call Pete King and tell him we need his help.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Contact (call/fax/email) your Senators, communicate regularly with your elected officials.

Senators Phone Fax Email

Charles Schumer (D- NY)
Ph:202-224-6542 Fx: 202-228-3027
E Mail Charles Schumer

Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY)
Ph: 202-224-4451 Fx: 202-28-0282
E Mail Hilary Rodham Clinton

Sean Benson & Mae O'Driscoll represent the EIIC at The Washingtion Rally, March 8th. 2006

Toolkit

Let Senator Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), Senate Majority LeaderFrist Know how you feel.

Senator Frist is reported to be considering a run for President so calls from voters will have an impact.

Let's make our voices heard and let Senator Frist know how we feel. Call Frist's Washington and Tennessee offices. Let your fingers do the marching.

I SUPPORT a comprehensive and humane solution to our broken immigration system. REAL REFORM includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented population, family reunification, and a new worker program that provides strong worker protections and a safe and secure way for workers to come to the U.S. in the future.

Contact SENATOR BILL FRIST

Washington, D.C. 202-224-3344 Nashville, TN 615-352-9411

Your Representatives and Senators need to hear from you.

**New York Senators**
Senator	Phone	Fax	Email
Charles Schumer (D- NY)	202-224-6542	202-228-3027	http://schumer.senate.gov/
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY)	202-224-4451	202-228-0282	http://clinton.senate.gov/

Work to ensure that Congress knows that immigration affects Irish voters, Irish businesses and Irish communities.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Contact (call/fax/email) your Senators, especially if they sit on the Judiciary Committee.

Let them know people in their state support the Irish undocumented and support McCain/Kennedy. Tell them that you support McCain/Kennedy because it offers earned legalisation for the undocumented and a chance to earn citizenship.

Don't limit your calls to your local representatives. Call your friends and family across the US. Call anyone you know in Irish organizations across the US and ask them to call their legislators.

Call your friends and family in Ireland and ask them to call their elected officials. Make our issue their issue.

Call every day, or as often as you can. Please give your best effort.

You can contact your senators and congressperson by phone, fax and email. Please follow the links to get the details for your representatives.

Senators | House of Representatives | Schumer | Clinton

Communicate regularly with your elected officials. This means keeping in contact with your Representative and the two Senators from your state.