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Tuesday, June 5th, 2007A journalist at New York’s Irish Echo newspaper has been having talks with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael regarding the possibility of becoming the first emigrant rights representative in the Seanad, reports Seán O’Driscoll in today’s Irish Times.
Ray O’Hanlon, who is orginally from Dublin, says that his aim has been to secure the parties’ support for an agreed emigrant candidate; he will know in July whether he has been successful. The report says that O’Hanlon would like to see a panel for two or three emigrant representatives but does not want to rush the parties into sudden change.
The report also says that US immigration rights lobbyists have been raising the issue of voting rights for emigrants, saying,
Many want to use their vote to rewared Irish politicians who back US immigration reform that would legalise more than 12 million undocumented immigrants.
Much of the resistance to emigrant votes has come from politicians who fear protest votes, especially those going to Sinn Féin.
O’Hanlon says the internet and globalisation have enhanched the relationship between Ireland and its citizens abroad, and allows for emigrants to keep up with Irish politics. He says,
There is no longer this sense of exile and distance. The state may end at the Cliffs of Moher, but the economy doesn’t. People are more aware and more than ever before. Now there has to be a complementary political voice to match it.
See the entire article at the Irish Echo. (subscription required)
See Éan’s factsheet on global external voting rights.
Returning teacher “sad and frustrated”
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007A 71-year-old emigrant who has returned home after five decades in the US is “sad and frustrated” with life back in Ireland, according to the Irish Independent. Journalist Shane Hickey reports that Vincent Lavery returned home after a 35-year career in teaching in Fresno, California; in the US he was highly active in his community, as a soccer coach and actor, and was active in the Democratic party. In addition, he founded the “Children’s Committee 10″, a charity that brought children from Northern Ireland (and later Lebanon) to holiday in the US.
He cited the employment indicators for teaching, as well as the positive words of President Mary McAleese and programmes such as Safe Home, which assists older emigrants in returning home, as factors in his decision to return to Ireland.
“I left Ireland when I was 20 but Ireland never left me”, he said. I came back every year. I came back permanently after giving two years of deliberation, under the impression that I could get work teaching.”
His teaching credentials, however, are not recognised here, and he has only worked 14 days in schools here since he returned nine months ago. Moreover, although he is the author of four books on soccer coaching, his attempts to coach youth football have been met with “a blank wall”, reports the journalist.
“People would look at me and I’d think, ‘What might it be about me?’ and the only thing I can say is my age…The Celtic Tiger Ireland has looked at this person without even giving him a day in court to see what he can offer. I had a lot to offer in America. I am absolutely sad and frustrated”.
Read the whole story on the Irish Independent website.
Convicted fraudster scams Irish undocumented
Thursday, May 31st, 2007There has been substantial media coverage of the case of Ralph Cucciniello, who scammed millions of dollars from 200 undocumented immigrants. Mr Cucciniello posed as a lawyer working with Yale Immigration Law Clinic, and promised undocumented Irish immigrants that he would get them papers in return for a $5,000 fee.
But Cucciniello was not a lawyer, and the Yale Immigration Law Clinic was a fictitious entity. The 545-year-old was a volunteer research assistant at the university, who had several prior fraud convictions. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1996 but never served the time because he was placed in the federal witness protection program. He has other fraud convictions dating back three decades.
Many of his estimated 200 victims are reportedly afraid to come forward. His crimes were uncovered after one of them contacted Olwyn Triggs, an Irish private investigator who works in New York. Ms Triggs contacted police officials, who filed charges on May 2. Ms Triggs has been trying to convince victims to speak with the police, but many fear deportation.
The story was broken by the Irish Voice in New York but achieved international prominence when it was reported in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune this week. RTÉ interviewed Irish Voice publisher Niall O’Dowd on the issue today.
Essays on emigrant writer welcomed
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007Fiction by emigrant writer Colm McCann will be the subject of a collection of essays, according to the Irish Times. The Dublin-born, New York-based writer, born in 1965, has won awards for his fiction, which has been translated into 26 languages. The Irish Times notes his role as part of “an interesting generation of the Irish diaspora in the US – an aspect of his writing career that would be worth exploring critically”.
Submissions of up to 7,500 words are welcome by June 30, 2008. Contact Dr Eóin Flannery (eoin.flannery@ul.ie) or Dr Susan Cahill (susan.cahill@ul.ie) or sent to Dr Eóin Flannery, English Section, Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, College of Humanities, University of Limerick
US immigration service publishes new fees
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has confirmed that immigrants will pay an average of 66% more for green cards, citizenship and other services. The price rises were finalised yesterday, following a period of public discussion.
To become a citizen, an individual will have to pay a fee of $595, up from $330; plus, the applicant will need to pay $80 for electronic fingerprints, up from $70. To apply for legal permanent residency, the cost is increasing from $325 to $1,010.
The agency says the increases are need to improve services and hire additional workers. “This agency is fee-based; 99% of our budget comes from user fees. We need to be the agency people expect us to be. We need to undertake reforms… The only way to get from here to there is to have the financial resources to do that,” said CIS Director Emilio Gonzalez yesterday.
Immigration advocates have criticised the move, saying the new fees will be a major obstacle for immigrants. The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres in the US has urged member centers to encourage anyone who is eligible to send in their application as soon as possible.
The new fees come into effect on July 30 and will apply to applications or petitions filed on or after that date.
More information is available on the USCIS website.
Justice for Immigrants group urges action
Monday, May 28th, 2007The Justice for Immigrants campaign, a coalition of Catholic groups in the US, is urging continued action on comprehensive immigration reform. In their latest action alert, they are urging US residents to contact their senators with the following message:
I support an immigration reform bill which 1) has a workable and realistic path to permanent residence for the undocumented; 2) creates a meaningful path to citizenship for those in the temporary worker program; and 3) preserves family unity in the U.S. immigration system.
I ask you to support changes to the legislation which would:
- Preserve family reunification as the cornerstone of the U.S. immigration system by maintaining categories for certain family members;
- Create a meaningful “bridge” to permanent status for temporary workers by giving them access to permanent residency visas (“green” cards);
- Remove the requirement that immigrants eligible under the “Z” visa legalization program must return to their country of origin to apply for permanent residency;
- Permit immediate relatives (spouses and minor children) to join the “Z” visa holder in the United States upon eligibility;
- Establish deadlines not dependent on “triggers” by when the temporary worker program and the permanent residency portion of the “Z” visa program must be implemented.
Justice for Immigrants is asking for its members to take this action from May 25 to June 2, when Senators are in their district offices.
The group has not taken a stance on the current bill making its way through the Senate but say they are working to ensure that the most humane solution possible is achieved.
Visit Justiceforimmigrants.org.
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