Conway welcomes plans to overhaul US immigration law

Fine Gael Clare Senator, Martin Conway, has welcomes fresh moves in the US to overhaul America’s immigration laws. Yesterday, President Barack Obama backed proposals to change immigration laws, a day after a group of US Senators unveiled details of immigration reforms they hope to have passed this year.

“These plans, put forward by a bipartisan group of US Senators, would help lay the foundation for citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the US. I am delighted that this proposal has been agreed, and I hope that this plan will result in the long overdue reform of immigration law which will give thousands of undocumented Irish in the US the opportunity to apply for US citizenship.  

“For those Irish immigrants in the US who live in the shadows, afraid to return home to Ireland, this plan offers hope that they will not only have certainty in the future, but that they will also be able to return home to Ireland to visit their families. The illegal status of so many undocumented Irish is a great hardship on the individuals involved, and their families who have been deprived of their loved one for so long.

“Having personally marched in solidarity at a rally for the undocumented Irish in Washington in 2007, I know how much this proposed reform would benefit and enhance the day to day lives of immigrants and their families.   It was a tremendous pity that the Kennedy McCain Bill, which was proposed in 2007, did not become law. Hopefully this new plan will herald a new dawn for the Irish immigrants in the US.

“I eagerly anticipate further developments in the progress of this long awaited reform.”

ENDS