Effectiveness of emigrant advisory committees
Higgins argued the committees were not meeting undocumented emigrants’ needs; the Minister defended their broad representation and said they needed time to work.
Will the Minister not concede that the Irish Immigration Reform Movement are focusing attention on the fact that despite however well-meaning his working committees are they carry an overly officious aura and that from the point of view of the 100,000 illegals who cannot come home this Christmas or for the funeral of a parent for fear of detection, they are not delivering the type of service they need? The Irish Imigration Reform Movement are the people closest——
Comment on this
The reason I established a co-ordinating committee is precisely the reverse of what Deputy Higgins is saying. There are other Irish-American organisations. I mentioned the churches and the trade unions already. There is also the AOH. The Immigration Reform Movement is representative of just a segment of recent immigrants. I have sat around tables with these people thrashing out these questions for hours on end. I know that if these committees get a chance they will perform some good. I do not claim they will perform everything. They are representative as far as possible of all the various elements in the complex of Irish-American society.