BY GINTAUTAS DUMCIUS
BIR staff
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is pushing a bill that would provide 10,500 employment visas for Irish immigrants. Brown, a Wrentham Republican, filed the bill with U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican. Citing a “close bond” between the United States and Ireland, Brown said in a statement that “inefficiencies” in the national immigration program have led to “increasingly poor prospects” for Irish immigrants.

“This legislation rectifies the decades-long plight by including the Irish in a special visa program that encourages their skilled workers to come to our shores,” Brown said. “Legal immigration is the foundation of America, and we must continue to find ways to improve our visa and green card programs, especially when it comes to the treatment of our strongest allies and closest friends.”
The employment passport, also known as an E-3 visa, is currently only available to Australian nationals. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ website, applicants must have a “legitimate offer of employment” within the United States and academic credentials. The visas last for two years and can be renewed.
The Brown/Kirk bill has been dubbed the Irish Immigration Reform and Encouragement (IRE) Act.
On Dec. 23, Brown sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging him to include the bill in negotiations to advance another immigration-related bill. “This measure is crucially important to an Irish community that maintains strong historical and cultural ties with the United States,” Brown wrote. Massive waves of Irish immigrants came over to the United States in the 1800s, but in 1965, Congress signed off on the Immigration and Nationality Act, which set up “bureaucratic hurdles” for Irish immigrants, causing immigration figures to drop, according to Brown’s letter.
“Despite some legislative relief in the 1990s, the Irish continue to face quotas that don’t reflect the level of demand,” the senator wrote. “Temporary work visas from Ireland are very low – only 2,700 H-1B visas were given to the Irish out of a total of 85,000 in 2010. Nearly 450,000 Irish came to this country in 2010 on visa waivers and many have chosen to stay illegally when their visa expired since there [is] no viable legal path available to them.”
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has offered a similar bill, which includes a waiver for those who have stayed despite their visa expiring.
John Foley, an immigration attorney who occasionally does legal work for the Reporter, said he would like for the bill to include the waiver for those who have overstayed, but the matter could also be potentially handled administratively by USCIS, he added. “The relationship between the two countries is well documented and we should be doing a better job of treating our allies like allies,” said Foley.
Franklin Soults, a spokesman for the left-leaning Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, which advocates for more comprehensive immigration reform, said Brown is responding to a “real need,” but the bill is a watered down version of Schumer’s legislation. “We’re glad that he’s doing that, but we think it’s important that this not be the end of his action,” Soults said of Brown.
Brown is up for reelection in 2012, having won a special election to fill out the rest of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy’s term in 2010. Former Obama administration official Elizabeth Warren is among the Democrats jockeying for the chance to face off against him next year.