New Visa Opportunities and

New Visa Opportunities and Hope for the Undocumented Irish in the USA

By Fiona McEntee, Managing Attorney of McEntee Law Group, a full-service immigration law firm based in Chicago with a satellite office in Dublin. Fiona is also the Chair of the Media & Advocacy Committee for AILA, the national bar association of immigration lawyers with over 15,000 members.

Immigration law and policy have always been politically contested in the United States, but we have never seen more attacks on immigration than we’ve witnessed over the past four years.

Under the Trump administration’s tenure, the USCIS - the agency tasked with handling citizenship and visa applications - removed reference to the U.S. being a "nation of immigrants" from its mission statement and instead replaced it with language about "protecting Americans.” For many, for me, this crystallizes how the Trump administration has relentlessly changed the government's approach to immigration.

It’s also worth noting that no areas of immigration – business, family, student, humanitarian – have escaped the wrath of this administration. Even before all the pandemic-related bans (#banzilla), we had seen drastic reduction in approvals, and a dramatic increase in scrutiny and denials, across the board.

But thankfully, a new day is here! I was honored to participate in some events for the Biden campaign and I’m delighted to officially congratulate President Biden and Vice President Harris. I’m really looking forward to seeing their administration advance their stated agenda on immigration, amongst other things.

The Biden/Harris immigration platform has confirmed its plan to reverse many restrictions on immigration put in place during the Trump administration; provide a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; fully restore DACA; ensure a fair process for asylum seekers; keep immigrant families together; and, modernize the business/employment immigration system.

I am also hopeful that they will take into consideration many of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s comprehensive recommendations on swift immigration reform. AILA is the national bar association of immigration lawyers with over 15,000 members and I currently serve as the Chair of the Media and Advocacy Committee for the organization. Our policy recommendations were developed in consultation with AILA’s national policy committees and our network of volunteer lawyers.

AILA’s key recommendations for the Biden/Harris administration include: n Issue a presidential proclamation that sets a new vision for America as a welcoming nation and renounces anti-immigrant policies.

n Ensure fairness, efficiency, and accountability in all immigration agencies that process family, employment, and other immigration applications. n Restore integrity and due process to the immigration courts and guarantee legal counsel. n Restore U.S. asylum law and humanitarian protections. n End inhumane detention. n Set a vision for immigration enforcement that is fair, humane, and effective. n Fully reinstate DACA and protect undocumented people and others with deep ties to

America. n Promote immigrant entrepreneurship, business growth, investment, and job creation to revive the U.S. economy.

The reality is that some of the Trump administration’s policies may take years to change. For some people, the damage of those policies could be permanent. Partisanship in Congress and competing priorities caused by the pandemic could all contribute to extensive legislative delays in the months and years ahead.

However, the Biden/Harris immigration plan is a strong start and it provides hope that things will get better for the immigration in the U.S. Notwithstanding that, he real work of rebuilding our country into a nation that accepts and embraces immigrants will take years of continued dedication to fight the age-old narrative that vilifies immigrants. As the American Immigration Council has stated, this is a “culture battle”, that will take perseverance in the advocacy and education against the misinformed concept that immigrants pose a threat to Americans and America’s wellbeing.

It remains to be seen what will become of the much-desired “Irish E-3 visa”. Many of us in the Irish immigration community in the U.S., especially my great friend and former Irish Senator Billy Lawless and former Special Envoy to U.S. Congress John Deasy, have long advocated both for the undocumented in addition to an option for future flow of workrelated visas to the U.S. The result of years of future flow roundtable discussions and lobbying was the possibility of the “Irish E-3 visa”. We have seen variations of this option make its way through Congress over the years and as recently two years ago it came very close to passing. If passed, it would have allowed eligible Irish citizens to apply for the approximately 5,000 E-3 visas unused by Australian citizens each year. It offered a suitable, long-term option for qualifying Irish citizens to live and work in the U.S. We hope that there will be a renewed effort on that front with a new administration, and a new Congress.

The Biden-Harris administration undoubtedly signifies a more progressive stance for immigration and this, we welcome with open arms. It’s a starting point for moving forward and we’re excited to get to work! Immigrants, we get the job done!