Huffington Post

 

Most Reverend John Kirby, Bishop of Clonfert and Chair of the Irish Episcopal Council for Emigrants,

Fr. McBride announced that one of the pastoral priorities for the IAUSA this year was to strengthen the relationship between the IAUSA and the IECE.  In furthering this effort, the IAUSA and IECE Boards will hold a joint meeting on December 23, 2013 in Maynooth, Ireland.    Those present from the IAUSA will have an opportunity to highlight the work that is being done at the IIPCs and Outreach offices in the USA and to inform the Bishops of the challenges that are faced by recent emigrants.   Additionally, they will have an opportunity to discuss pastoral care for Irish emigrants in the next decade.

The Irish Bishops are very interested in the new waves of emigrants as they have different profiles than earlier emigrants from the 1950s and 1980s.   The IECE would also like to better prepare people for emigration based on the information they receive from the Centers in the USA.

At the IAUSA annual meeting, members had an opportunity to share the highlights and challenges of their work with the Board. One of the biggest challenges is that of fund-raising.   Each Center is required to fund-raise to meet expenses, but everyone agreed it is also very time consuming for staff and volunteers.

Bishop Kirby expressed his appreciation of the work done on behalf of Irish emigrants by the IAUSA members.

After meeting with the IAUSA members, Bishop Kirby, Joanna Joyce and Geri Garvey flew to Chicago for a pastoral visit to the Irish community there.  At a dinner that evening they met with Fr. Michael Leonard and the Board and Staff of the Chicago Irish Immigrant Support office.  

 

The following morning the Bishop celebrated Mass for the Irish Community at the Irish American Heritage Center.  Cyril Regan, President of the Board of CIIS, presented the Bishop with a book on the world-famous Chicago architecture.  Bishop Kirby also met with Francis Cardinal George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago during his stay.

 

Cyril Reagan, Bishop John Kirby, Fr. Michael Leonard

 

 

Members of the Chicago Irish Community

An all-party delegation from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs & Trade spent two days in Washington in late October and participated in a round of meetings regarding the situation of the undocumented Irish in the US and on future visa access for Irish people.

 

 

Ambassador Anne Anderson hosted a working dinner where the delegation consulted with leaders of key Irish-American community groups.  Representatives from the ILIR, Chicago CELTS, AOH, and IAUSA were among those present.  The delegation also attended President Obama's White House speech on Thursday, October 24th in which he urged Congress to act on immigration reform by the end of the year.

 

Chairman Breen said: "We have been greatly encouraged by our visit. We are satisfied from our meetings with Congressmen, including Paul Ryan and Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy, that despite recent difficulties, a will exists on both sides of the aisle in the House to resolve this issue. We look forward to early adoption of bi-partisan legislation that would resolve difficulties of the undocumented and provide future flows of visas for Irish people who want to live and work in the United States."

 

       Updates from the Hill

 

Does your nonprofit agency want to continue providing legal immigration services, but avoid engaging in the unauthorized practice of law?    

 

Does your nonprofit agency have immigration attorneys on staff, but want to expand its capacity by getting authorization for non-attorney staff to practice immigration law?

 

 

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) has designed this toolkit  to educate agencies on the need for BIA recognition and accreditation and to assist them in the application process.  It is divided into four sections:

• Section One provides background information about the importance of BIA recognition and accreditation. 
• Section Two takes you through the steps needed to prepare for and compile the application. 
• Section Three provides guidelines on the professional code of conduct for BIA accredited representatives and information on how to protect your agency from liability.
• Section Four focuses on the widespread problem of immigration fraud and provides resources for educating the immigrant community.