March 20, 2008
Newsletter
In This Issue
The Road to Immigration Reform
In the News
Detentions and Deportations
Returning to Ireland
Taoiseach Launches Strategic
Review
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Dear Noreen,
Each year the arrival of the J-1 students heralds the onset of
summer. This year students can expect a different experience to
that of their predecessors in recent years.
With the US economy sluggish the CIIC is strongly advising
students that the key to a successful experience this year is
advance preparation. Students should; travel to locations where
seasonal work is available; use any local contacts that they have;
bring sufficient funds and allow themselves enough time to find a
job and accommodation. Irish Centers recommend $2,500 to
$3,000 as a minimum amount of money that each student should
bring to get them started.
Students traveling to areas near our southern border should also
be aware of the escalation in violence in those areas, including in
Tijuana. Nobody should travel over the border without being fully
informed of the danger. Fore more information on local
conditions, jobs and accommodation contact the Irish Center
in/near the area you are planning to travel to this year.
If you are an employer or know of employment opportunities for
students please help out this year and contact your local Irish
Center.
Slán go foill,
Sheila
The Road to Immigration Reform
March has been a busy month with encouraging news on the
immigration front. While Congress has not yet begun a debate on a
specific proposal there has been a lot of organizing, both around
the country and among members of Congress. In recent days, the
President has reiterated that immigration reform is on his agenda.
Last week a bipartisan group of legislators introduced the DREAM
Act. This constitutes yet another signal that the political tide for
immigration reform is turning.
Billy Lawless from the Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform
was one of the Irish contingent that met met with
President Obama at the White House on St. Patrick's Day. The
President was very positive and told him he would introduce
immigration legislation by the end of the year.
Immigrant advocacy groups and immigrants themselves are also
beginning to organize. The National Immigration Forum recently
announced the Spring Into Action Campaign! This national
campaign is encouraging immigrants to meetings with Members of
Congress during the April recess (April 4 - April 19).
The ILIR is organizing a series of meetings to let people know
what is going on. The first meeting will be at the Irish Cultural
Center in Boston on Monday April 6 at 7.30pm. Speakers
will include Bruce Morrison, ILIR chairman Bart Murphy, vicechairman Ciaran Staunton and Executive Director Kelly Fincham.
The Taoiseach, Brian Cowan and the Minister for Foreign Affairs
visited Washington D.C. for St. Patrick's Day. During his visit the
Taoiseach indicated that the Irish Government was pursuing a bilateral visa agreement modeled on the Australian E-3 program.
This would allow college educated Irish immigrants to enter the
USA to work for up to 2 years on a non-immigrant visa. This visa, if
it were agreed, would offer professionals an opportunity to work in
the US on a temporary basis. Without significant changes to the
program it would not help anyone who is currently undocumented.
In the News
This past month The Irish Pastoral Center in Boston and the
Coalition of Irish Immigration Center were interviewed
by RTE Radio 1 reporter Cian McCormack for a four-part series on
the Morning Ireland show that covered emigration to the US,
Australia, Britain and Canada. The segment on emigrating to the
US focused on the issues difficulties in getting employment without
a valid visa and the detention of immigrants who overstay their
visas.
To listen, visit RTE's archives:
Emigrating to the US in search of work - 3 March
Australia still popular with Irish emigrants - 4 March
Emigrating to Britain - 5 March
Emigrating to Canada - 6 March
The Aisling Irish Center in Yonkers, New York is featured on the
newly launched Irish Central website. The article describes the
Center as a hub for Irish immigrants and ex-pats". You can read the
complete article on the
Irish Central website.
The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers, Director, Sheila
Gleeson was featured on RTE Radio's The Irish Abroad show
discussing the problems facing undocumented immigrants and the
need for immigration reform. The Irish Abroad is a monthly
magazine show dealing with issues that face Irish people abroad.
The program is presented by Paschal Mooney.
Detentions and Deportations
The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers (CIIC) continues to
work on issues related to the detention of Irish citizens and the
poor conditions that they endure while they are being held by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. CIIC recently submitted a
report to Ambassador Michael Collins detailing the problems that
the Irish Centers have encountered. In response Ambassador
Collins assured us that the Irish Government have taken this issue
up and they will be following up on it further in light of issues
raised in the report.
Returning to Ireland
Crosscare Migrant Project in Dublin has developed a new
information leaflet that will be useful for any Irish citizen thinking
of returning to live in Ireland & bringing family members with
them. The leaflet provides information on residency in Ireland
for family members and partners of Irish citizens, and
details the processes and steps involved in entering Ireland,
registering with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB),
making and renewing residency applications etc. The leaflet is
available to download from Crosscare's website
Taoiseach Launches Strategic Review of
Ireland-US Relations
The Taoiseach, during his visit to America for the St Patrick's Day
celebrations, launched "Ireland and America: Challenges and
Opportunities in a New Context" This review of Ireland-US
relations was prepared by the Ambassador on how Ireland could
re-energize and renew that relationship with the United States. The
Irish Government approved the report the Taoiseach launched it
while he was in New York. The Press release is available on the
Department of the Taoiseach website.
The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers (CIIC) is a national
umbrella group for all of the Irish Immigration Centers in the US.
The CIIC was established in 1996 to promote the welfare of Irish
immigrants in the US at a national level.
Sheila Gleeson
Executive Director
Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers
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This email was sent to noreen@emigrantnetwork.ie by sheila@ciic-usa.org.
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