Immigration to America from Ireland, and specifically Irish immigration to Boston, has seen a steady increase over the past year due to the downturn in the Irish economy. Some Irish immigrants who flocked back to Dublin during the recent economic boom there are now regretting their decision to leave the US. Those who had become US citizens prior to moving back to Ireland, or who were able to maintain permanent resident status while there, are able to return to America with relative ease. However, immigration for those Irish who failed to maintain LPR status, or who never gained legal status to begin with, face obstacles imposed by US immigration authorities.
Many green card holders or US citizens from Ireland entered the US on one of 40,000 visas given to Irish immigrants under a 1990 Irish immigration program. Since 9/11, immigration laws and immigration enforcement for all nationalities has gotten stricter, resulting in fewer Irish immigrants to Boston than during previous periods of economic downturn in Ireland. Boston immigration attorneys and lawyers have seen an increase in the number of young Irish immigrants.
From a humanitarian perspective, our fellow human beings, who migrate to support their families, continue to suffer at the hands of immigration policies that separate them from family members. This suffering should not continue.
Now is the time to address this pressing humanitarian issue which affects so many lives and undermines basic human dignity. Our society should no longer tolerate a status quo that perpetuates a permanent underclass of persons and benefits from their labor without offering them legal protections.