Irish committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade visits the U.S. to lobby on immigration reform

A delegation from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade will visit Washington D.C. next week in order to hold a series of meetings with influential members of Congress prior to the enactment of immigration legislation in the U.S.

Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade Pat Breen TD said: “Immigration reform in the U.S. is an issue in which the Joint Committee has a keen interest. It is recognised that reform of the immigration laws could have a positive impact on the tens of thousands of Irish men and women who are currently in the U.S. illegally.”

The cross party delegation, which will include Deputies Seán Crowe (Sinn Féin), Gerald Nash (Labour) and Senator Mark Daly (Fianna Fáil) as well as the Chairman Breen (Fine Gael), will meet with key figures from the House of Representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

The Committee delegation hopes that it can persuade members of Congress to support legislation that would legalise the undocumented Irish and create a new E3 visa to allow 10,500 Irish work legally in the country every year.