Irish-Americans Praise New Immigration Bill (original) (raw)
New York|Irish-Americans Praise New Immigration Bill
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/07/nyregion/irish-americans-praise-new-immigration-bill.html
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- Oct. 7, 1990
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October 7, 1990
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In the heavily Irish community of Woodside, Queens, they are already celebrating new immigration legislation approved in the House last week, as if it were raining green cards.
''We're euphoric at this juncture,'' said Claire O'Gara Grimes, publisher of The Irish Echo, who said she hoped some 30,000 illegal Irish immigrants would receive the much coveted permanent residence cards under the bill, known as the Family Unity and Employment Opportunity Immigration Act of 1990. The bill, whose chief sponsor was Representative Bruce A. Morrison, Democrat of Connecticut, seeks to open the nation's doors to three-quarters of a million foreigners a year - particularly family members of American citizens or permanent residents. The bill raises the ceiling to 775,000 aliens a year from 540,000 and also makes it easier for workers with technical and managerial skills to immigrate.
For the Irish, the most important part of the Morrison bill is the section that gives virtual amnesty to all the illegal Irish immigrants in the country, and to aliens from some other Western European countries.
Opponents of the bill, headed by the lobbying group, the Federation of American Immigration Reform, complain that it significantly increases the number of legal immigrants.
''The reform will be a shot in the arm for New York, whose economy has always thrived on immigration,'' said Representative Charles E. Schumer, a Brooklyn Democrat who serves on the House immigration subcommittee.
Support From Broad Coalition
In New York City the bill has been supported by a broad coalition from labor, business, church and civil rights and neighborhood organizations.
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