Under the gaze of Teddy Roosevelt, a man noted for action, the near total inertia on the immigration reform front was a more pertinent backdrop in the room as Irish immigration advocates met with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley and Obama administration staff members last week, this following an invitation from the White House.
Two meetings were held, one each on Thursday and Friday, with the nation’s Irish immigration reform advocacy groups being represented by an invited panel of five.
The first meeting included immigration reform advocates from other European countries in addition to Ireland. The second meeting focused solely on Irish concerns and objectives.
The gatherings took place after months of inactivity on the reform front though, as one observer noted, only a few months before a presidential election year.
The Irish American delegation was comprised of Ciaran Staunton of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Ned McGinley and Dan Dennehy of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Stella O’Leary of Irish American Democrats, and former congressman Bruce Morrison, who acts as a consultant for ILIR in the nation’s capital.
Representing the administration at the Thursday White House meeting were chief of staff Daley, director of intergovernmental affairs Cecelia Muñoz, and office of public engagement staffers Kyle Lierman and Stephanie Valencia.
According to a release from Morrison’s Morrison Public Affairs Group, the Irish immigration advocates spoke in favor of long term legalization objectives and the creation of adequate future flow opportunities for Irish immigrants through a targeted E-3 visa for the Irish.
On Friday, the Irish delegation met with representatives of the White House Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Homeland Security.
The agenda focused on specific Irish immigration issues and concerns. The administration, again according to the Morrison Group release, “committed itself to a continuing dialogue to advance community objectives on creating legal future flows in which those already in the U.S. and those in Ireland could participate. This included seeking support for the targeted Irish E-3 visa.”
The E-3 is a two-year renewable work visa that allows for family members to live with the visa holder in the U.S. The U.S. has E-3 visa deals with several countries, most notably Australia.
