Illegal? Better if you're Irish (article from 2007 is still relevant today)

[pampango]

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

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.

"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."

Irish immigrant advocates are acutely aware that the American public doesn't identify the Irish as alien, let alone illegal, and they consciously leverage this positive prejudice to their advantage.

"The fact that they're white Europeans agitating for immigration reform is helpful," said Niall O'Dowd, chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and publisher of the Irish Voice newspaper. "Bottom line is that every ethnic group brings their own strength to the debate. We can't put a million people in the street, but we have positive political identification and a lot of access to Democrats and Republicans."

[rfranklin]

1. Same thing with the Polish immigrants...

many here in NJ fueling the underground economy but nobody seems to care.

[redqueen]

2. This makes me sick.

Nothing like being reminded how very important skin color is in determining how you're treated.

[Warpy]

3. I've been pointing out to NM wingnuts that the largest group of illegals in Boston

are the Irish for years, watching their eyes glaze over and their heads go to the BSOD and reboot. They just can't process things like that.

In illegal immigrant paranoid states all over the sunbelt, a large group of illegals are Canadians who have bought retirement homes and overstay the visa.

And yeah, being able to "pass" by being white and speaking native English is a big deal. Nobody ever seems to want to shut off their water and electricity and force them to go home.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Until recently, blending in with the local demographics was the best shield for illegal immigrants.

The backlash against illegal immigrants took hold when most looked like an "other" and when the sheer numbers made it difficult to ignore.

I use the Irish example with the bigots I know in the Northeast. AFAIK every single one of them has known an illegal immigrant from Ireland. I grew up with them all around. They were the crews for contractors, the household help to the upper income families, the bartenders working under the table, etc. Most lived in my neighborhood where having a brogue didn't make you stand out. And yet some of the people who grew up with me on those same streets are now ranting about "illegals."
:banghead:

[MrsBrady]

4. I knew of an illegal Irish that was bartending

in the Dallas area....

he did eventually get caught and had to go back to Ireland.
But I don't think he went through all of this being arrested and detained stuff.