Mr. John Stahl:

The inauguration of the Biden Administration brought with it a collective sense of relief after four years of high anxiety and concern for immigrant communities, the Irish included, and particularly the undocumented community, due to the Trump Administration's hostile rhetoric on deportation, strict enforcement and anti-immigrant policy changes. However, Trump era policies continue to affect the country under the Biden Administration and the ongoing impact and aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a major impact on the US immigration system. In particular, the presidential proclamation suspending travel from certain regions, including Ireland, and the shutdown of the US embassies and consular offices overseas are producing the widest ramifications.

The travel suspension has produced consequences on both sides of the Atlantic. First, temporary visa holders currently in the US have essentially been stranded here without the ability to return to Ireland, renew their visa at the embassy and successfully re-enter the United States. Further issuance of new visas for people in Ireland has almost stopped completely and the US Embassy is not scheduling visa appointments for those seeking temporary visas under the premise that these individuals, with some limited exceptions, cannot otherwise travel from Ireland to the United States.

Immigration restrictions due to Covid-19 have created massive backlogs for consular appointments overseas, as well as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, domestic adjudications. It is estimated that it could take years to address these backlogs, particularly at overseas diplomatic posts, and although proposals have been made to address the backlogs, much will depend on the new policies initiated by the Biden Administration and additional funding to increase capacity at these agencies.

President Biden introduced his US Citizenship Act 2021 in January. It was subsequently introduced in both houses of Congress. This is a comprehensive measure that highlights legalisation for the large undocumented population in the US, and looks to expand and reform the pathway for legal immigration moving forward. To date, there has been no movement on the Bill in either the House or the Senate, and the likelihood of any Bill passing the Senate with the filibuster in place is improbable. Within this context, the current approach is piecemeal immigration reform Bills through the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority to pass. However, there is a lack of agreement on what should be included in these smaller Bills as well as what populations would receive benefits.

I will pass to Mr. Millar on the J1.