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Ireland lauds Obama's immigration reform move
Ireland is lauding President Barack Obama's executive orders granting new rights to millions of people living illegally in the United States, saying the reforms will allow thousands of Irish citizens to attend weddings and funerals in Ireland without fear of being barred from returning to their American lives
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reland is lauding President Barack Obama's executive orders granting new rights to millions of people living illegally in the United States, saying the reforms will allow thousands of Irish citizens to attend weddings and funerals in Ireland without fear of being barred from returning to their American lives.
The move was front-page news in Ireland, which has exported millions of citizens to the United States ' including an estimated 50,000 living there illegally. For two decades, Irish governments have lobbied the White House during annual St. Patrick's Day visits to grant those Irish citizens U.S. residency.
Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan called Obama's executive orders "real progress," but noted that residency would be granted only to undocumented residents with at least five years' stay and children in the United States. He said Irish diplomats would focus efforts on persuading the Republican majority in Congress to support and extend Obama's orders to cover all Irish citizens with clean criminal records.
Across Europe, politicians and analysts praised Obama's move to confront Republican Party opposition in Congress. One German newspaper, the Thuringische Landeszeitung, said Friday that Obama "has returned to the 'Yes I can' of days past."
An Irish nationalist leader in Northern Ireland, Alasdair McDonnell, said Obama's move would allow thousands of Irish citizens to visit relatives for the first time in many years.
"Over the years I have heard many heartbreaking stories of immigrants missing time with ill family members and missing funerals," said McDonnell, leader of the Social Dermocratic and Labour Party.
"This is a brave and visionary move by President Obama who, in going against the views of so many others, is recognizing the immense contribution of immigrants to the economic life of the United States." (*****)
