TDs arrive in Washington today to lobby Congress to back special immigration measures for the estimated 50,000 Irish people living illegally in the United States.
The Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee delegation is being led by its chairman, Fianna Fáil's Michael Woods, along with TDs Liz O'Donnell (Progressive Democrats), Michael D Higgins (Labour) and Bernard Allen (Fine Gael).
Mr Allen said the group will seek to persuade US lawmakers of the merits of the Kennedy/McCain Bill, which, if passed, would offer tens of thousands of illegal immigrants a chance of getting a three-year residency permit.
They would be granted greater protection in the workplace and would be allowed to travel to and from the US without fear of being refused re-entry.
The Bill passed through the Senate's Judiciary Committee yesterday and is due to be debated on the floor of the House this week.
The final decisions, warned Mr Higgins, will be taken in the next eight weeks: "The business on this is going to be sorted out before Easter."
The delegation will today meet the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, congressman Peter King, followed by a meeting with senator Chuck Hagel.
Tomorrow, the group will meet a US State Department official, Mike Gallagher, and congressman Jim Walsh, along with Sheila Gleeson of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said the passing of the Bill through the Senate Committee "represents a very significant and positive development in the debate on the complex and sensitive nature of immigration reform."
Mr Ahern has raised the issue with US politicians and lobby groups several times since 2004. He has yet to decide on whether or not to travel to the US next week to canvass Senators on the Bill.