At every stop on his South American trip over the last week US president George Bush made a point of emphasising the pressure he was under from regional leaders to overhaul the US immigration system. His message was aimed at a domestic audience and its purpose was to assist him persuade Republican allies to climb the steep hill that stalled immigration reform represents.
On Tuesday in Mexico president Felipe Calderon chided him for trying to build a wall between the two countries and Mr Bush repeated pledges made a day earlier in Guatemala that he would work forcefully to pass a Bill this year.
On his trip to the US to mark St Patrick's Day, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is also taking up the issue as his main theme in meetings with politicians. He will have been gratified at the Ireland Fund dinner on Wednesday by the commitment from the Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to prioritise the issue.
Last year the Senate passed a Bill, supported by Mr Bush, providing - among other things - for a "path to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants that had been sought by Irish and other immigrant rights campaigners. But the House agreed a measure that provided only enforcement powers to combat illegal immigration. The reconciliation of the two positions proved impossible.
The post-election dynamic in both houses has changed. Democrats took control of both chambers and several key Democrat opponents of "rewarding illegals with citizenship" were defeated. In theory that should make agreement on permissive legislation easier, but the maths requires significant numbers of Republicans to support a new compromise. However, one of their key supporters of reform, senator Arlen Specter, complains he has not been consulted about any new compromise and his colleague senator John McCain, in presidential election mode, also appears to be getting cold feet.
Mr McCain had been working with senator Ted Kennedy on a joint Bill but their efforts collapsed on Tuesday over union calls for minimum pay rates for the undocumented. Business supporters of reform said they were not happy and Mr McCain was not prepared to alienate any more of his Republican base at this stage.
Mr Kennedy has now thrown his important support behind the Bill the Senate Judiciary Committee passed last year, 12-6, with backing from four out of 10 Republicans on the committee. But union concerns are now likely to find more support in the House which may again find a Senate Bill unacceptable. Aware of the shifting sands, Irish campaigners in the US, and the Taoiseach, have understandably lowered their sights and expectations, accepting reluctantly that the preferred option of the "path to citizenship" may not now be realistic, and stressing instead the need to permit travel home, and to improve both rights at work and access to green cards. Such reform would be a welcome and significant step forward for this vulnerable community.