Dáil debates

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Undocumented Irish in the USA

10:00 am

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The President's executive action is now the subject of court proceedings and I do not have a date on which this matter will be decided. I assure the Deputy that this is a matter of priority on the part of the Government. I intend visiting the United States in early January and I will raise this issue again. It is difficult to put precise figures on the exact number of undocumented Irish citizens in the US but we estimate there are many thousands. These individuals are living in something of a twilight zone, who are in breach of US immigration law and do not have the means of ensuring their status is regularised. They wish that the US Government would develop a mechanism to allow them to acquire a documented right to continue their lives in the US, to fully participate in the life of their adopted communities and to travel in and out of their country.

I am conscious of the difficulties being experienced by Irish citizens who are undocumented in the US and their families who remain in this jurisdiction. I am very much aware of the pain they feel when family members are unable to return for a family occasion, be it a celebration or a bereavement.

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