Ministers should reflect on undocumented in Ireland while in US

The State's current policy on undocumented migrants in Ireland stands in stark contrast to the Government's campaign on the plight of the undocumented Irish in the US, according to Fianna Fáil.

As Government Ministers jet off to the United States for St Patrick’s Day to represent the Irish abroad and raise the profile of undocumented Irish workers in the US, Fianna Fáil has highlighted the “strong humanitarian, economic and pragmatic grounds” for addressing the situation faced by the thousands of undocumented migrants living in Ireland.

There are an estimated 20,000-26,000 undocumented migrants living in Ireland, according to Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI). Of these, 21 per cent have been here for more than 10 years while nearly two-thirds are aged between 25-39.

Regularisation would give undocumented people the chance to legalise their immigration status and work legally in Ireland.

There are believed to be 11 million undocumented people living in the US including an estimated 50,000 Irish people.

Speaking on Sunday at a St Patrick’s Day street party, representatives from the Justice for the Undocumented (JFU) group called for political leaders to “act with integrity and think of their home country and the situation here as they travel abroad for St Patrick’s Day; to remember us as they ask US leaders to think of the Irish undocumented there”.

“We too work hard in our adopted country, we too are unable to travel home for funerals and weddings, we too are simply asking for a chance to come forward and stop living in fear,” said Jayson Montenegro from JFU.

“We’re here in solidarity with undocumented migrants everywhere, especially the undocumented Irish in the US this St Patrick’s Day. Like the undocumented Irish across America, we are here a long time, we’ve put down roots and we are making a valuable contribution. We’re working here, we’re living here, we belong here.”

Undocumented

Debra, who has lived in Ireland for 10 years and works as a carer, called for Ministers not to forget the undocumented in Ireland while in the US.

“They do this every year. They do this for the undocumented Irish. They fight on their behalf so they may come home and see their families some day.”

“What about here in Ireland in their own country? Do they see us? Do they hear us? Undocumented men, women and children who have put down roots and made Ireland their home. What about us?”

Responding to a parliamentary question in January 2016 on the status of the undocumented in Ireland, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said the Government had no plans to implement a regularisation programme based on the system outlined by MRCI.

Ms Fitzgerald said the State was committed to using a “case-by-case regularisation, rather than generalised regularisation, under national law, for humanitarian or economic reasons.”

“There is a clear obligation on anyone coming to live and work in the State to respect our laws,” said the Minister. “It remains open to any foreign national, who finds him or herself in an undocumented situation, to return to their home country and apply to re-enter the State or, alternatively, to approaching the immigration authorities to seek permission to remain in the State.”

A spokeswoman for Fianna Fáil highlighted on Monday the party’s Migrant Earned Regularisation Bill which proposes a once-off scheme to allow undocumented migrants to earn residency rights in Ireland.

Fianna Fáil TD and spokesman on Justice and Equality Niall Collins told the Dáil in 2015 there were strong humanitarian grounds for regularising undocumented migrants. He added that it would make economic sense to bring these people "out of the shadow economy into the official economy".

In a survey carried out in 2014, MRCI found that 97 per cent of undocumented migrants in Ireland had a second level education while more than half had a third-level education. Some 86.5 per cent of undocumented people entered the State legally and subsequently became undocumented.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly and Minister of State Paul Kehoe will visit the US in the coming days as part of the St Patrick's Day celebrations.