Minister fears US legalisation move not enough

10/11/2005 - 16:39:16
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today he fears proposed legislation to legalise undocumented Irish in the US will not lead to permanent residency.

US congress is considering a number of proposals to give temporary legal status to up to 11 million illegal immigrants. It is estimated that 50,000 of these could be Irish.

The Minister told the Dáil that failure to grant permanent residency could lead to bigger problems.

“If there isn't some nod given in regard to the issue of permanent residency, what will happen is those people, undocumented, will not come forward...even if they're given a temporary visa for three or six years, on the basis that they would have to declare themselves,” he said.

“At the end of that period they will then be in the system and the system will know where they are.”