Campaigners on behalf of thousands of undocumented Irish immigrants in the United States have welcomed an agreement between Democratic and Republican senators that could allow an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to remain in the country legally, writes Denis Stauntonin Washington.
Under the draft Bill, yet to be approved by the senate and the House of Representatives, undocumented immigrants who entered the US before January 1st this year would be offered a temporary residency permit while they await a new "Z Visa" to live and work lawfully.
The head of an illegal immigrant household would have eight years to return to his or her home country to apply for permanent legal residence for members of the household, but each Z Visa itself would be renewable indefinitely, as long as the holder passes a criminal background check, remains fully employed and pays a $5,000 (€3,705) fine plus a processing fee.
Ciaran Staunton, vice-chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, last night welcomed the deal as a breakthrough in a campaign that has seen undocumented Irish citizens demonstrate in Washington five times over the past year.
"We're delighted that they've reached a compromise. We told both the Republicans and the Democrats that we wanted to get a good Bill rather than a perfect Bill. We were also very anxious that moderate Republican senators sign on to it because otherwise it wouldn't have a hope of going through the Senate," he told The Irish Times.
Senator Edward Kennedy, who led the Democratic negotiating team, hailed it as "the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders and bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America".
The agreement came after weeks of intense negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and White House staff. President George Bush welcomed it as "a much-needed solution to the problem of illegal immigration in this country" that would deliver a "secure, productive, orderly and fair" system.
The draft Bill would create a temporary worker programme to bring new arrivals to the US and a separate programme to cover agricultural workers. Skills and education level would carry more weight than family connections to decide whether future immigrants should receive permanent legal status.
The full senate will debate the Bill next week and the House of Representatives will take up the issue before the summer. If both houses approve the measures, a conference of senators and congressmen will negotiate a final Bill which must be approved by Congress before being sent to Mr Bush.