A letter mailed to Congressman Tom Price by my fiancé, Kieran Claffey, an Irish Immigrant and U.S. Citizen - a different perspective on immigration reform
85-C Mill Street, Suite 300
Roswell, GA 30075
Dear Congressman Price:
I am writing on behalf of the 50,000
undocumented Irish in the USA, (a figure produced by recent Irish government
estimates). Please remember that figure
– it appears again in this letter. The
Irish did not come here with their hand held out, as Paul Ryan recently
highlighted in his campaign for immigration reform, in which he displayed a
poster from the Irish 1850’s immigrant ships, depicting the truth that a man
could be the sum of his efforts in America, a land that rewarded hard work,
indifferent to nobility or class system.
The 50,000 undocumented Irish work hard and earn their way, as we have
always done and contribute to the richness of America. I am one of 40 million Irish American voters
that are asking for your help.
Not many people know this, but there
were 50,000 Irish men who died in the US civil war; 35,000 with the north and
15,000 with the confederate army and many more who bled the ground for this
country, going back to the American war of independence. In the famous NY city skyscraper photograph
of the steelworkers from the 1930’s, the majority of the men sitting on that
steel beam were Irish immigrants. We
have earned our voice, producing great Irish American leaders such as the Scots
Irish Hibernian, Andrew Jackson, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, to name a few.
In recent history the Irish nation has
been treated poorly by the immigration system, considering our contribution to
the establishment, growth and moral fortitude of America. Since 1965 Ireland has been shut out, with
only 1/1000th of 1% of green card admissions. Have we not earned our voice in America;
earned it the hard way? Yet we continue
to be given the bare minimum. We have
50,000 of our people struggling in America, struggling in the shadows of
American life. There is an opportunity
for Ireland to receive e-visas in the upcoming legislation, the immigration
reform bill (Bill No. S. 744) and there are proposals to eliminate the e-visas
from the legislation; visas which would be of great benefit to Ireland.
Ireland is suffering a dilapidating
economic downturn. Recent engineering
and science graduates are unable to find employment in Ireland and are
emigrating to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK; countries who want
them and who are welcoming their eclectic skill set. Why should Canada, Australia, New Zealand and
the UK benefit from highly educated Irish college graduates and not us; not us
in America with our strong ancestral bond to Ireland?
We badly need them here! I know; I work in the oil and gas industry in
Georgia and we are starved for technical people. We need science and engineering graduates in
the US to develop our economy and to compete with the rising Asian countries
who are surpassing us in engineering and science. We (as Americans) are looking a gift horse
in the mouth! Why?
Immigration reform is not just a Latino
issue; it is also an Irish issue and it is also a reflection of how we want to
be as a nation. Do we want to reward
hard work and labor or do we want to simply ignore these immigrants who are
toiling so very hard for this country?
Irish people cannot go home to bury their parents; missing funerals for
fear of being deported, a point I believe the Taoiseach Enda Kenny recently
made to speaker of the house John Boehner.
Please work to provide e-visas for the benefit of both the USA and
Ireland and throw your shoulder into supporting some form of immigration reform
for the betterment of America, regardless of bi-partisan politics. Do the right thing! I know people who know what it is truly like
to live in the shadows in America; we are not looking for amnesty; just a drop
of milk of human kindness and an acknowledgment of the dignity of the human
spirit.
Our ancestors, many of them Scots Irish,
were immigrants at one point, but the system did not force them into the
shadows. This is happening in 2013!
Whose plight is worse? What would
your ancestors do when given your choice, the choice that lays ahead of
you? Please remove this burden and pass
some form of immigration reform, which secures our borders and recognizes the
contribution given by the people who pick our fruit, build our houses and mind
our children!
Is mise le meas – With
respect,
Mr. Kieran J. Claffey
Mechanical Engineer – Oil &
Gas Industry,
Atlanta - Clan na nGael Cumann
Luthchleas Gael (Atlanta - Gaelic Athletic Association)
US Citizen
Irish Immigrant to the State of
Georgia
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