Fine Gael front bench spokesman, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, has urged the Taoiseach Mr Ahern to use US President George W. Bush's visit to Ireland this weekend to seek regularisation of the status of undocumented Irish citizens.
Mr Deenihan tabled a parliamentary question on the issue to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, in the Dail today.
He expressed his concern for the status of Irish immigrants who arrived in the US after 1995. "The allocation of green cards since that time has been minimal and has therefore failed to reduce the number of undocumented Irish, conservatively estimated to be at least 50,000" he said.
Mr Deenihan went on to state that it was extremely worrying that the various proposals for reform appeared to be at a standstill. "President Bush's own proposal, which would allow undocumented Irish already in the States to avail of a three-year temporary work visa, was outlined in January but no legislation has been introduced to date," he said.
He claimed that while many undocumented Irish citizens make a valuable economic and social contribution to the US, they face many hardships under the current immigration legislation.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said there were no official figures for the number of undocumented Irish people living in the US.
PA