Waiting for a key to the land of the free

Sean O'Driscoll, The Irish Times
Sat, Mar 17, 2007

A proposed change in US immigration law would allow many Irish illegals to work freely. How would it change their lives, asks Sean O'Driscoll

This week, President Bush told Central American leaders that he wanted to see a comprehensive US immigration bill signed by August. It would represent the most thorough rewriting of immigration laws since the 1960s, allowing millions of illegal workers to travel and work freely in the US.

Even with Senator Ted Kennedy signalling this week that he will have to compromise with Republican Party hardliners before seeing legislation passed, today could mark the last St Patrick's Day in which thousands of Irish continue to carry the "illegal" stigma. For those who take the long road to citizenship, it will end with a swearing-in ceremony in which they will have to renounce their loyalty to Ireland and become full Americans. For some, it's a daunting prospect. For many who have lived through the tightening post-9/11 security, making that pledge just can't happen quickly enough. Here are the views of some Irish immigrants who hope that this St Patrick's Day will be their last as illegals.

Julie Duff, home mother, and husband Dennis, flooring company owner

Julie Duff's husband, Dennis, was attending a school St Patrick's Day event in Yonkers, New York this week, where the children put on an Irish dancing show.

During the event, the children sang the Irish and American national anthems.

"I was singing along to both of them. I thought: 'Jesus, this is strange'. I feel American in some way, definitely, it would be hard not to be," he says.

A big supporter of both the Jets American football and the Kerry Gaelic football teams, he personifies the type of emigrant who drifts easily between US and Irish culture.

He runs his own flooring business in New York and has not returned to Ireland in six years. Julie, originally from Ardee, Co Louth, was home two years ago for her father's 80th birthday and re-entered the US under a new passport in her married name.

Others have not been so lucky - a couple they have known for many years chanced a trip back home for Christmas in 2001, when the US's post-9/11 clampdown was at its height. They weren't allowed back into the US and had to leave most of their possessions in their New York home.

"She's still devastated," says Julie. "We had to pack up their entire apartment and get their stuff shipped, her sister had to sell the family car for her, the whole lot."

In her own family, Julie and Dennis's six-year-old daughter, Lillie, is repeatedly asking why her cousins take trips to Ireland and she doesn't.

"It's hard to tell her we can't go to Ireland because Mammy and Daddy aren't supposed to be living in America. Legalisation will make a huge difference to our lives," she says.

Swearing allegiance to the US and disavowing loyalty to Ireland is not a problem. "We'll always be Irish, it's as simple as that," says Julie.

Brian McKenna, property and building investor

A millionaire construction manager originally from Truagh, Co Monaghan, Brian McKenna has bought several properties in New York and runs a thriving specialist plumbing business. He could return to Ireland and invest his money in the Irish property and building trade but believes he has simply too much tied up in the US to do so.

He was last in Ireland in November 2001, when he went home to a former boss's wedding. On his way back, he was questioned by US officials at Dublin airport but was released after 20 minutes.

He employs between four and seven men in his plumbing business, which specialises in brownstone houses in wealthy areas of Manhattan. His business partner or a company employee drive McKenna to work because he doesn't want to risk getting stopped without a licence, which he lost under recent anti-illegal immigration laws in New York.

He considers himself both American and Irish, and he and his wife Caroline intend to see the immigration battle through, especially as they had their first child recently. Life will be more difficult when Caroline's driving licence comes up for renewal, impossible under under the new laws.

McKenna grows tired of people who don't want to take full citizenship for nationalistic reasons.

"Too many people are saying that and I think it's ridiculous. I don't see the sense of it when your life is here, when you're making your money here," he says and points out that links with home are still strong. Seventy-six members of his and Caroline's families came to New York for their wedding in October 2005.

"People come out on holidays, no problem at all. It's not like the old days, so you're never fully away from everyone," he says.

Mary Brennan, nurse, and her fiancé, Charlie

Mary Brennan, a nurse from Listowel, Co Kerry, is avidly watching President Bush's trip to Central America. "He's talking about signing in August, and he's saying this in Guatemala!" she says with a laugh.

She is concerned about the negotiations in Congress, which may lead to a longer waiting time for legalisation than previously anticipated.

She has been living in the US for nearly 17 years and is more than ready to take citizenship. "I'm from two countries - I was born in England and raised in Ireland, so I suppose I'll have to renounce loyalty to the queen as well. I'll always be Irish, so taking citizenship doesn't bother me," she says.

She has cut out a clipping from a New York paper that says presidential candidate Barack Obama has an Irish great-great-great-grandfather.

"I think being away from home only makes your sense of Irishness stronger, so I'm interested in Irish issues more," she adds

She and her English fiancé were unable to buy a home because of their immigration status but have bought a two-family house with a documented Irish family.

Her status has had a major impact on Mary's work life. Although a qualified nurse, she can only find work as a nurse's aid until her immigration status changes.

And her undocumented status had a major personal consequence last year when she was unable to return to Ireland for the funeral of her brother, who was killed in a car accident. "It was very, very hard. I don't know if reality has hit home, it's a very surreal experience," she says.

Her story led to a huge swell of support in the New York Irish community and cards from thousands of well-wishers.

"It was a very touching experience," she says. "People are there for you and otherwise it would be impossible. I'd simply have to go back to Ireland and might never come back."

Deirdre Foy, graphic designer, and her husband, John Foy, a construction worker

Deirdre Foy, originally from Clontarf, Co Dublin, is something of a New York fanatic. She loves the ethnic mix of Manhattan and even got married in Central Park while standing on the engraved words "New York" (it was part of a garden memorial commemorating the original states of the union).

She also loves the creative world of graphic design and has worked on projects for major international brands.

Unusually for an undocumented immigrant, she has spent more than half her 11 years in the US as a legal immigrant.

She had moved jobs twice under her work visa, which is stretching the limits, but was laid off with the economic slump that followed 9/11. She is now the art director for a skincare company and lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

She has been watching President Bush's trip to Central America and is very happy to hear that he wants to sign the immigration bill by August.

"No matter what you say about the politics, it was Reagan who signed the Morrison visa bill, so you never know," she says. Many of her Irish friends won Morrison visas and they all rushed to become US citizens.

Her view of Irish America has changed dramatically since she arrived in the US and she would be delighted to take citizenship.

"My image of Irish-Americans was the type who wear geansaís and Kelly-green trousers while getting off a tour bus on Nassau Street in Dublin. I used to live in Chinatown and I was annoyed that even the Chinese went around with 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish' hats on St Patrick's Day."

Her view of Irish-Americans changed the longer she spent in New York.

"I realised my annoyance was not with Irish-Americans but with myself. For Irish-Americans, their Irishness is a way of grounding themselves in this city. It takes a few years living here before you appreciate that. I'd be proud to be Irish-American at this stage."

A photographic exhibition by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform begins on Mar 29 at the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda (www.irishlobbyusa.org)