She was in her early thirties, attractive and full of life. Her accent told of her Northern origins: “My children tell me I don’t belong here,” she stated, “They also ask why can’t we visit our granny and granddad, do they not like us?”

Being undocumented in the US was never a great place to be but it is getting to be an increasingly more difficult place. Recent legislation which is security-driven is making life tough for those who left Ireland for the US in the eighties.

The lady I mention above runs a business with her husband. They own their own home and have two beautiful children who attend Catholic schools. They live in fear that it could all disappear tomorrow. If granny and granddad get sick then mammy can’t go home as they would not be able to re-enter the United States.

There are between ten to twelve million undocumented in the United States. They can’t all be deported. They have allowed the economy to grow. Most have paid their taxes, contribute to society and have done their best for their families. Hollywood recently made a film entitled ‘The Day the Mexicans didn’t Come to Work’. The film highlighted the fact that if the undocumented didn’t present for work the country would grind to a halt.

There are many humanitarian issues being raised by the present state of play. A person who may be a victim of domestic violence has no power to address the issues as they fear that when they present themselves they could be deported so they hide their pain and live with compromise. More people have died on the American border with Mexico than died along the iron curtain during the cold war.

What can be done? Last Tuesday the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched a campaign entitled. ‘Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform’. The campaign marks a new effort to educate and galvanize Catholics on the need for “justice for immigrants”

Speaking at a news conference held at Catholic charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick said the goals of this multi-year campaign are four-fold:

To educate Catholics and others of good will about the benefits of immigration and the benefits to the nation.

To strengthen public opinion about the positive contributions of immigrants.

To advocate for just immigration laws which promote legal status and legal pathways for migrant workers and their families.

To organize Catholic legal service networks to assist immigrants to access the benefits of reforms.

One of the goals of the campaign is to try to change laws “so that immigrants can support their families in dignity, families can remain united, and the human rights of all are respected,” Cardinal McCarrick stated.

The Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants visited the US to lend its support to this campaign as it is a ray of hope on a dark horizon for the undocumented Irish.
For more information, contact emigrants@iecon.ie