Prometheus 6

Irish leaders have defended their proposal for a separate pact by saying it would correct what they call historic inequities, referring in particular to a change in the law in 1965 that reduced the number of visas for the Irish as it opened up those available to immigrants from regions other than Europe.

Listen...if we're addressing historical inequities, you got some citizens that ought to come first, okay?

Although other groups have pushed for special treatment, including immigrants from Haiti, where there is a food crisis, and Central America, where natural disasters have disrupted the economy, many of those interviewed seemed to see the Irish deal differently.

They sure do. We got upward of 30,000 Irish illegals in New York.

Immigrants Riled by Irish Push for Special Status
BY SARAH GARLAND - Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 5, 2008

An effort by the Irish to secure a special immigration deal solely for illegal immigrants from Ireland isn't sitting well with some of their former partners in the fight for an overhaul of federal immigration policy.

Although immigrant organizations officially have refrained from criticizing the Irish, many rank-and-file Hispanic immigrants — who say their families have been hit hardest by deportations — are saying they are shocked that the Irish are quietly working for a separate pact with federal officials.

"It's absurd that they're working alone. We should unite together," Segundo Alvarez, 54, said at a May 1 rally in Union Square for workers' rights, during which participants criticized a recent wave of workplace raids and deportations, mostly of Hispanic immigrants.

The rally was much smaller than in previous years, when thousands of immigrants from around the world poured into the streets in New York and other cities to support a bill that would have created a path to legalization for immigrants of all nationalities.

Since that effort collapsed last year, the Irish government and Irish immigrant groups in America have been working closely with senators and other lawmakers to push forward a separate deal for the Irish, with the Irish prime minister naming senators Schumer of New York and Kennedy of Massachusetts as the officials with whom he has been working most closely. The prime minister, Bertie Ahern, was in Washington last week to speak to Congress and meet with the Bush administration after assuring the Irish community in America that he was working hard to push through a deal.