Fair point.

Yep, good point.

Agreed. And I wish Gilmore would shut up about this. It really annoys me when he pretends to have the ear of the US President and legislature. What a narcissist! If he really gave a damn he’d start working on giving emigrants some kind of representation, as we’re one of the few democratic countries where citizens lost their basic rights as soon as they leave the country – and funnily enough, also one of the large population exporters. The best thing he can do for Irish people is sort out the mess at home.

Why should the Irish be treated any different?never mind Gilmore its just a ploy to gain votes,wouldn’t trust him considering he lies about his past

It is a domestic issue. In fact it’s one of the most critical issues in American politics at the moment.

Immigration reform, that is.

But O’Bama is an Irishman himself, he’ll identify strongly with cousins from the Auld Sod to be sure (to be sure).

Yes Damocles,

Obama’s red hair and freckles are a dead giveaway

@damocles,Obama is about as Irish as curry.

What about a one & one ?

@damocles he is about as Irish as Polak horse meat additive…

See my comment above. That’s why.

Id imagine they werent qualified so couldnt obtain visas that would lead to citizenship.No sympathy for them at all

Most of them have expired visas, but decided to stay.

That’s actually a generalisation. Not true for most illegals. The Irish ones though? Perhaps.

DON’T! Seriously! It will severely restrict your ability to travel in the future. (and Texas is too close to the border, well some parts of it are :) it’s too risky)

If you overstay your holiday visa you MIGHT get away with it for a couple of trips and then one day, you’ll end up with a 10 year ban. If you believe this is a long term relationship you do not want to put yourself in the situation where everytime you travel to your girlfriends country you are panicking travelling though the airport (and you’ll eventually get caught!). Don’t overstay if you can possibly avoid it. I know WAY too many people that have gotten banned.

Yeah, let’s kick out every hard working Irish illegal and bring them back here…….to the dole que

If they are a hard working in the us, I’m sure they can be hard working here.

Grand Sean, you hire them so

irish are suffering home and away,its like a punishment from God for a person to be born irish.

Ger I totally agree! Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Obama’s 12th cousin shares as much DNA with Obama as I do.

The bill that’s on the table at the minute was agreed with bipartisan support. My heart bleeds for those who can’t return to ireland maybe they should have thought of that before they decided to break the law.

Get off your high horse cian, you haven’t a clue what’s going on over there. People went over looking for work and a better life, same as anyone else that emigrates. It’s extremely tough to get a work visa. Not everywhere is as easy to go to as Australia

It’s not that easy to get a work visa in Ireland either if you’re a non EA national. Illegal immigrants here are rounded up and sent home. Are Irish people more valuable human beings than the illegals who come into Ireland? Why should the Irish illegals get better treatment than that Ireland gives to illegal immigrants here.

First off I’m mostly talking about Irish illegals because, personally, I’ve met more than a few over there. I don’t mean to sound like its only them that are important. Second, you can’t compare Europe to the U.S in this case. There are no hand outs over there. You work, and you work your arse off if you’re illegal. Most if not all want to be legal, pay taxes & be part if the country. Is that such a bad thing?

Dec just in response to you’re generalisation that Australia is an easy country “to get into” . Depending on you’re visa type it can be very expensive ( family and plane tickets) and it also doesn’t give you any benefits either. I know this article is about the US but why should someone who lives in the country illegally and doesn’t pay any form of tax based on your income get documentation over someone who goes down the correct route . If that’s the why have immigration laws , just open the doors to everyone .

What handouts do you think there are for undocumented illegal immigrants here?

You don’t know what you’re talking about… “The Republicans will block it” … Why do you say that ? Its just a knee jerk comment! Obama promised in his first 4 years that he would tackle illegal immigration. His 1st 2 years were totally unobstructed so he could have passed anything … He decided on healthcare so we can end up like Ireland waiting for a week to get a bed in the hospital. So please don’t comment unless you know what you’re talking about! Believe it or not Obama is not the Savior!

Australia’s not that easy either. To get a working holiday visa you have to be 30 years old or younger (same in Ireland BTW) and it’s a temporary visa with no path to permanent residency.

To get a skills visa you have to have the skills, education and experience that Australia is looking for at the time. You have to hand over a big wad of cash to get your visa processed and you don’t get it back if your application is rejected. It could be rejected on the grounds that someone slightly better qualified than you also applied… even if you fit all the criteria.

Australia is a great place to emigrate to if you do get in. They encourage you to become a citizen, and provide a path to both permanent residency and citizenship that can be achieved withing 2 of years of moving there. That’s not the case in Ireland where you have to be living here a minimum of 5 years to apply for citizenship and 8 for permanent residency. Even being married to an Irish citizen doesn’t help until you’ve been married for 3 years. And remember that referendum a few years back? The one that told immigrants that they weren’t entitled to remain in the country even after having a baby that is an Irish citizen?

Ireland has quite a neck asking the USA to treat Irish illegal immigrants favourably.

Right where do I start! Rena, he tried to bring this in just over 2 years ago and it was blocked by a republican senator at the last minute, from Arkansas(can’t remember his name). At what point did I mention Obama being a saviour or anything about healthcare!! To the rest, I know about Australia because I got a work visa there 7 years ago with little qualifications. Yes I was under 25, and only got a year. That’s still a hell of a lot easier than the U.S

@ jimboandbear, the US is actually considering a similar measure to what Ireland has done by dis-allowing immigrants to obtain citizenship by having an ‘anchor baby’ in the country. So Ireland didn’t act that unfairly by doing the same.

I’ve live in Australia for the last 4 years and in that time the government here has changed their immigration laws about 5 times so I’m sure in 7years is changed a lot. So unless you know about the migration system in Australia don’t make sweeping comments about it. To get back to the point why should someone be documented just because the happen to be illegals , Irish or otherwise. If they are not refugees they should be deported back to their country of origin for breaking migration laws,

Fair enough will, be careful what you wish for though

With a general statement like that about Republicans you are obviously a “sheep” of the liberal media.
More illegal immigrants have left or have been quietly deported under Obama than Bush.
Republicans are pro legal immigration and can see the economic benefits of it. Before 9-11 Bush was meeting with Vicente Fox with an agenda to grant legal status to illegal immigrants (The greatest majority of illegal immigrants are Latino). 9-11 stopped that.
Apart from a few good well intentioned Democrats as a whole they are great to make noise about popular issues like illegal immigration but its usually with an ulterior motive; more power, secure the vote.
Obama is no favorite with the illegals here. His leftist policies do not create any benefits for the illegals here who need to work to send money and “parcels from America”back to the South & Central America to feed their families.

Blame the republicans for everything, how original

Well dec I was going to address your response but it appears you’ve been well and truly served. Sit Down.

Cian, happy enough standing, thanks. Andy, I’m not liberal, or conservative. People who label themselves as either are idiots who treat politics like its a religion

Things have changed heaps in seven years. Tougher now.