Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very familiar with the Keith Byrne case. I spoke to his family at the time and we did what we could to help him. There are many other Keith Byrnes who have made the US their home, have family and children and good jobs and are contributing as good citizens in the US. We need to help them and we are trying. The truth, though, as the Deputy will know, is that immigration and immigration reform are about the most controversial thing on Capitol Hill. There are approximately 11 million undocumented in the US, from many countries, including Ireland. We are trying to find ways in which we can help our people as best we can. It is also important, however, to be frank that when we try to do so, our efforts get caught up in solutions for many other communities. This is why we tried to pursue the E3 approach in the way we did to try to make some progress on visa access. We will continue to look for avenues. Our embassy is constantly looking for ways to allow us to advocate for the undocumented.

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