Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said that illegal Irish immigrants in the United States are "entitled" to be in America and that their position could not be compared with that of illegal immigrants in Ireland, writes Denis Staunton in Washington.
"I don't think you can try and make comparisons. They're not the same," he said.
Speaking in Washington as the US senate prepares to approve an immigration reform Bill, Mr Ahern said the fact US legislators were considering a measure to legalise illegal immigrants suggested that they were entitled to stay.
"If the legislature here are discussing the possibility of changes in order to legalise and regularise their position, well, you know, they're entitled to be here from that point of view. But in a strict sense, I suppose, they're illegal," he said.
Mr Ahern said many Irish immigrants came to the US before September 11th, 2001, after which it became more difficult for illegal immigrants to slip in and out of the country. He suggested that the rules changed for immigrants after 9/11 and that it was his duty to alert US legislators to the impact these changes had on Irish citizens.
"I think people in any system have to deal with the laws that are present in that country. Again, when you look at what's present here, you're looking at a situation that dramatically changed after 9/11, and the situation of entry and exit into this country was very free and open. It's not now. So the circumstances under which these people came here are dramatically changed. And I think we have an entitlement to make our views known to those people who changed the legislation, to point out that our people have difficulties," he said.
In fact, the criteria for determining an immigrant's legal status in the US have not changed since 9/11, although existing rules are enforced more vigorously.
Most Irish illegal immigrants in the US entered the country under the visa-waiver programme used by tourists and overstayed its 90-day limit. Mr Ahern said many undocumented Irish immigrants had put down roots in the US, unlike most high-profile immigrants who have been deported from Ireland.
"When people try to compare what happened recently in Ireland with the Afghans with what's been happening here in the US, you're not comparing like with like. Completely different. When you look at the references the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] people made to the immigration system, they more or less said it's second to none in the world, that it's a transparent, fair process," he said.