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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
December-January 2014 77
MIGRANT RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL
E
NDA Kenny wrote to President
Obama in November to commend
him on the “humanity and lead-
ership” he had shown in his efforts to
regularise undocumented migrants in
the United States. The Taoiseach’s words
demonstrate great empathy for the many
undocumented Irish in the US and an
understanding of the need for decisive,
pragmatic and comprehensive action on
this issue. His sincerity was so patently
heartfelt it was almost as if he’d thought
it through.
The following day, Migrant Rights
Centre Ireland (MRCI) released the
results of a small survey, of 540 undoc-
umented migrants in Ireland. Like the
undocumented in the US, they are una-
ble to travel back home for a father’s
funeral or a daughter’s wedding. Like
the undocumented in the US, they live
in fear of contact with the authorities,
afraid to report assaults or burglaries.
Like the undocumented in the US, they
work hard and provide essential services.
The Taoiseach, who has such empathy for
the undocumented, could change their
lives in the morning.
We estimate that there are up to
26,000 undocumented people in Ireland,
including thousands of children. During
the ‘boom’ years, people from all over
the world responded to Ireland’s urgent
need for labour. Our immigration sys-
tem, constructed in a hurry and a mess
of ad hoc and piecemeal policies, failed
to keep up with the demand. According
to our survey, 86.5% of undocumented
migrants entered the State legally and
subsequently became undocumented,
falling through gaps in the system.
Of the 540 people surveyed, 81% have
lived in Ireland for over five years. One
in five has been here for over 10 years.
For these people, workers, children,
families, Ireland is home. Abdullah is a
statistical engineer, undocumented in
Ireland since 2006. He runs a restaurant
in Dublin, and pays tax. He speaks of feel-
ing stuck, unable to move forward, and of
the grief of missing his father’s funeral.
The painful experience of watching a
family funeral on Skype is now familiar
to many undocumented migrants both
in Ireland and the US.
Contrary to the popular myth, undoc-
umented migrants cannot claim social
welfare in Ireland, or any benefits what-
soever. The survey revealed that 87%
of the migrants are in paid employ-
ment. Over half of the remainder, which
includes stay-at-home parents, have been
out of work for less than six months. A
third are current taxpayers. Over half
have paid tax in Ireland at some stage,
despite serious obstacles to doing so.
The survey found that undocumented
migrants in Ireland are concentrated in
low-paid work. Undocumented workers
cook and serve your meals, they mind
your children, they care for older peo-
ple. They clean homes, restaurants and
offices across Ireland. This is a signifi-
cant contribution in labour alone, but
there is also consumer expenditure
to consider. We estimate that undocu-
mented migrants currently contribute
€255 million a year in consumer spend-
ing. In return, Ireland’s politicians lobby
for immigration reform in the US and cel-
ebrate Obama’s plans to regularise the
undocumented, while essentially ignor-
ing the thousands of undocumented
men, women and children living here in
Ireland.
MRCI have worked with undocu-
mented migrants since 2001. The
findings of our survey are supported
by an analysis of over 2,600 MRCI case
files from the past five years. This is not a
new problem, and it won’t go away on its
own. However, there is a straightforward
and sensible solution: a regularisa-
tion scheme. Such a scheme is far from
unprecedented. Regularisation schemes
have already been introduced in at least
17 other EU countries. Irish politicians
have lobbied for a US scheme for years.
Regularisations do not ‘reward illegal-
ity’, they are a common-sense response
to an inescapable reality.
If this issue is not addressed now, in
ten years’ time we could be saying that
one in five undocumented migrants has
spent over twenty years in Ireland.
The Government has a choice: it can
act now, showing the humanity and lead-
ership for which the Taoiseach praised
President Obama, or it can wait, and
knowingly allow thousands to live in
fear, afraid to go to hospital, afraid to
speak to a Garda, afraid to stand up to
an exploitative employer, and afraid, in
the case of undocumented children, to
hope for any future in the only country
they have ever called home.
In the spirit of Christmas, let’s imagine
a system where we treat our immigrants
as we want to have our emigrants
treated. •
Edel McGinley is director of the Migrant
Rights Centre Ireland
Like our relations in the US, immigrants in
Ireland cannot go home for a father’s funeral
or a sister’s wedding. By Edel McGinley
Treating immigrants as we’d
have our emigrants treated
There are up
to 26,000
undocumented
people in
Ireland;
86.5% of
undocumented
migrants
entered
the State
legally and
subsequently
became
undocumented
“
hundreds of visa-
seeking immigrants
queuing all night for
the Garda National
Immigration Bureau
