Will Arizona have to check the citizenship of those celebrating St. Patrick's Day?

[kevinbgoode]

It often goes without notice, but undocumented immigrants aren't always those with brown skin and hispanic accents - why, two years ago L.A. Time columnist Gregory Rodriguez wrote about the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish nationals living in the United States. And while a large chunk of them are believed to live around New York City and environs, approximately 20,000 others are scattered about the United States:

"There are an estimated 50,000 Irish illegal immigrants in the U.S.; 30,000 of them are thought to live in New York City. Today, this tiny corner in the northern reaches of the Bronx is perhaps the most heavily Irish-born neighborhood in New York, and advocates believe that as many as 40% of local immigrants are undocumented.

On Tuesday afternoon, I walked up Katonah Avenue, Woodlawn's main shopping street, trying to guess who was or wasn't here illegally. How about that blond woman walking with her child? Or perhaps the redhead in pink sweats? Surely the two rough-hewn construction workers enjoying a lunchtime beer at the Rambling House bar didn't have papers. Like the woman I met in California's Central Valley a few months ago who told me how odd it had been to see white people engaged in farm labor in Australia, it was a decidedly new sensation for me to suspect all the white people around me of being illegal.

"When I tell people I'm undocumented, it shocks them," said Mary Brennan, a nurse's aide who has lived in the U.S. for almost 17 years. "They think of JFK or Ronald Reagan, and they can't understand how an Irish person could be illegal."

Though Brennan shares the hardships of undocumented status with other illegal immigrants throughout the country — last year she was unable to attend her brother's funeral in Ireland for fear that she'd be denied reentry to the U.S. — she acknowledges that Irish illegals do have a slight advantage. It's all in the stereotypes — race-based, language-based, class-based.

Her friend, contractor Dermot Byrne, who also is here illegally, agrees. "From my experience, we're not singled out. If someone's driving down the street and they see five Mexican guys on one side and five Irish guys on the other, they're going to think that the Mexicans are illegal, even though it could be the other way around."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-rodriguez8apr08,0,1081193.column


Since we know there are undocumented Irish immigrants living in America, it would seem that any of those St. Patrick's Day celebrations, parades, and barhoppin' rituals happenin' in Arizona next March should be heavily peppered with some of the state's finest law enforcement officers, carefully sifting through the suspicious crowds celebrating the green as they check papers for some of those undocumented Irish. . .

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. They impose sanctions on countries of the world

If Arizona carries on the way its going then it will become like Iran.

[Luminous Animal]

2. I'll bet that more than 50% of the natural born Irish that live in San Francisco

are here "illegally". Most the Germans I know gained legal residency by joining in sham marriages.

[Retrograde]

4. It's easier to blend in, especially in a city that sees a lot of European tourists

Undocumented residents, or just someone here to spent their Euros? I found out recently that someone I thought was a legal resident was sent back to the UK. Some school districts in Silicon Valley, especially the ones with good academic reputations, see a lot of children who just happen to be "visiting" relatives in the area for most of school year

[Luminous Animal]

5. Undocumented resident or just another member of 30% of the population?

Arizona's population is 30% Hispanic or Latino.

[Luminous Animal]

3. Kick.

[Old Troop]

6. Actually, the gov't worked hard to deport or jail

illegal Irish immigrants several years ago. I think it was to reign in the IRA folks.