After a hiatus and a change in chairmanship the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform resumed its public campaign for immigration reform this week with a meeting at the Irish Cultural Center of New England in Canton, just outside Boston.
Several hundred attended the meeting to hear the ILIR's Ciaran Staunton vow that the group "wants to make sure that this is the last generation of Irish in America that has to listen to a family member's funeral on the telephone. It is our goal that this is the last generation of Irish to be undocumented in America."
Former Congressman Bruce Morrison, a consultant to ILIR, outlined details of the proposed E3 visa scheme and pledged that, in one way or another, it would provide some benefits for the undocumented as well as providing a future long term, sustainable system of migration to the United States.
Recently elected ILIR chairman, Bart Murphy, stated that the U.S. immigration system had been broken for 45 years and that prior fixes such as the Donnelly and Morrison visas, although very helpful, had not dealt with the fact that there was little or no pathway for Irish immigration.
The crowd, estimated by organizers at 350, warmly applauded Massachusetts ILIR representatives Hugh Meehan and Jimmy Gallagher and pledged active involvement in the ongoing ILIR campaign.
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