Dáil debates

Wednesday, 2 July 2014

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Immigration Controls

10:50 am

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the issues discussed during his recent visit to the USA; and his views on whether a comprehensive immigration reform package can be delivered. [28441/14]

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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The Tánaiste was recently in the US to discuss immigration reform with the US Government and members of the Congress and the Senate. The issue affects up to 60,000 Irish people, many of whom were living in the shadows and living in fear. Will the Tánaiste at some stage address the issue, outline his views on the potential success of immigration reform in the US and will he give us a sense of where things are at?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I visited Washington D.C. over the period 17-19 June for various meetings on US immigration reform, which remains a key Government priority. My programme included separate discussions with Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Congressman Paul Ryan, Senator Pat Leahy, members of the Congressional Friends of Ireland group, House judiciary committee member Congressman Mark Amodei, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic caucus chairman Congressman Xavier Becerra and White House domestic policy council director Ms. Cecilia Munoz. I also met Irish-American community leaders, including from the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, the Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform, Irish Apostolate USA, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, with whom the Government has worked closely on our shared US immigration reform agenda. Each of my meetings proved very useful, offering different insights and analyses into the prospects for progress towards legislation that would provide relief for currently undocumented Irish migrants and also a facility for additional future legal migration between Ireland and the US. There was widespread consensus that an already complex political landscape had become even more complicated by the electoral defeat earlier in the month of the Republican House majority leader. The general sense I received from interlocutors was that further time would be needed to assess the full implications of this development for ongoing immigration reform efforts, particularly from the perspective of the upcoming congressional mid-term elections. I found it encouraging that proponents of immigration reform in Congress appear determined to persist with their efforts and they hope that further progress may yet prove possible this year.

As my visit took place, Mr. Kevin McCarthy was elected as the new Republican House majority leader. Through our embassy in Washington and also directly, the Government looks forward to working further with Mr. McCarthy, House Speaker John Boehner and other key congressional figures on both sides of the political aisle, and with the US Administration, with a view to advancing Ireland’s immigration reform related objectives.

Since my return from Washington, I understand that there has been a further sharpening of the political engagement in the US Congress about the situation of unaccompanied migrant children who are seeking to enter the United States via its southern border. This may now impact negatively on the prospects for wider immigration reform progress being achieved over the immediate period ahead. It would clearly be disappointing if this proves to be the case. Nevertheless, as I noted earlier, we will continue our intensive efforts to persuade Members of Congress to seize every opportunity to make immigration reform a reality.

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Part of the difficulty is that the situation is changing all the time and we have a statement from the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, saying he did not believe immigration reform would happen this year. The blinds are being pulled on the window of opportunity but there is still a chink of light with regard to the possibility of this being delivered. Part of the difficulty is that, no matter what President Obama proposes, an element of the House will oppose it. I do not know if the Tánaiste agrees with my analysis. We are getting mixed messages all the time from the leaders the Tánaiste met. We met them when a number of us visited. They were positive that this would be delivered but the reality seems to be that the chance is ebbing away. Unfortunately, we are left with the situation that the Tánaiste gave a report to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and said he was more positive than coming back than he was going out but, since that, changes took place in the House. The opportunity exists but is becoming less of an option. Part of the situation is that these people do not want to work with the Obama Government, regardless of the issue. This is part of the conundrum that people who want to deliver this must deal with.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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We have two objectives in this. There are 50,000 undocumented Irish people in the United States who cannot come home for funerals and family events. We need to secure a path to legalisation for these people. Since 1965, the flow of legal emigration from Ireland to the United States has dried up and we want to find a way of doing that. The Bill passed by the US Senate would provide a path to legalisation for the undocumented Irish and provide for an E3 visa available to 10,000 Irish people per year to travel and to work legally in the United States. It would make a major change. In the House of Representatives, there is no agreement on the Bill and it is a sensitive political issue. My assessment of the situation is that the people I have spoken to accept that immigration legislation will be passed by Congress at some stage. There are some 11 million undocumented people in the United States. It is a huge issue and it plays politically. In the run-in to elections, people look over their shoulders and what they are hearing in their constituencies and districts and respond accordingly. The most recent issue to come into play is the number of unaccompanied children crossing the US-Mexican border.

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is getting more difficult to deliver. People are saying one thing to us but circumstances and politics intervene. The Minister referred to a pathway of legalisation and the E3 visa. A 12-month J programme has been negotiated Government to Government. Has the Tánaiste been in discussion with the US Government about extending the programme? The work experience has been helpful and many employers have said they would prefer to take on people on a long-term basis. What has the Tánaiste done in Government to Government negotiation, which is separate from the overall package? I do not know if there will be legal pathway for the Irish, which is a backward step. With the difficulties in the House, the opportunity is moving further away. The problem is that elements in the House do not want to work with the Obama Government and Obama seems to be the problem. The fact that he has prioritised this as an issue is seen as a red card or a stick to beat the Administration. People are sucked into their own politics and the bigger picture of immigration reform and its importance, for the Irish and everyone, is being lost.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The second issue is not the subject of the question. My Department and the embassy are working on it with the US Administration and I am hopeful we will have a satisfactory conclusion. With regard to the main issue of immigration reform, across the political spectrum in the US it is accepted that there must be legislation on immigration. We cannot have a situation where 11 million undocumented people are in the United States, many of whom work in various areas of the economy.

There is also a economic driver in respect of this issue in some areas of the American economy, such as agriculture, for example. Farm work is heavily dependent on immigrant labour. Obviously, there are issues in respect of security and so on and everybody accepts that this is going to have to be done. However, there is a question of political will and that is a matter for the United States Legislature. We will continue to remain in close contact with key figures in that Legislature. It is far more a case now of when, rather than if, there will be immigration legislation in the United States.