Absurd Immigrant Hater

I AM writing in response to Timothy Taylor’s unbelievable letter in the March 1-7 issue regarding the McCain-Kennedy bill.

Mr. Taylor should be thankful for the fact that this country has free speech, because his racist letter would otherwise not be allowed to be printed.

His ancestors were obviously not in the San Patricios, the hundreds of Irish who changed sides in the Mexican American War because they could not stomach the killing of innocent Mexican civilians and the burning of Catholic churches which eventually led to the acquisition of much of what was once Mexico by force of arms. That war was not one of the brightest points in American history.

Mr. Taylor is so blinded by his anti-immigrant sentiments, his racist hate of the Mexican people and his fear of Mexicans ruining our way of life. He is so out of touch with reality.

If the McCain-Kennedy bill does not get passed, the very “way of life” that he thinks will be taken away from us Americans by the Mexicans and Irish and other undocumented immigrants will indeed be taken away.

Does Mr. Taylor want to pay the tens of thousands of dollars to send his children through school so that upon graduation they can aspire to pick the grapes for that lovely glass of wine that he sips while he writes the racist letter that I am responding to?

I am lucky enough to have immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s when it was possible to legally apply for residence. I eventually got my U.S. citizenship.

The McCain-Kennedy bill would enable thousands of people who are already working and contributing to this great country to legally continue to do so.

If this country continues to shut out immigration, and is left with nothing but Mr. Taylor-type racist, anti-immigration people, indeed my family and I will leave. We won’t be forced out by hard working Irish and Mexican immigrants taking our jobs, but by bigots like Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Taylor’s ancestors probably left Ireland to escape the type of bigotry that he voiced in his letter. Immigrants built this country, sustain the standard of living that we Americans enjoy, and with the McCain/Kennedy bill, will do so in the years ahead.

Support for the McCain/Kennedy bill will enrich this country. But I doubt it will start a civil war.

Mr. Taylor should also note that the immigrants he wants to keep out made up the majority of the soldiers who have fought and died in the defense of this great country.

Sean Bogue
San Francisco, California

Support ILIR

CONGRATULATIONS to the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) on the hugely successful Irish immigration lobby day in Washington. I was privileged to be part of it and a witness to an historic demonstration by the Irish.

As ambassadors they did Ireland proud. They are born lobbyists and they helped greatly to push the issue of the undocumented to the forefront.

America would be fortunate to have these young people as citizens. This was truly a grassroots organization, with all the work done by the immigrants themselves and a few dedicated leaders.

We, Irish Americans, are ashamed that we have not reached out earlier to our fellow Irishmen and women to assist them in gaining citizenship. Now that the organizers of the demonstration have laid the groundwork, it is up to the rest of us to support their efforts in every way we can.

Stella O’Leary
Chairwoman, Irish
American Democrats
Washington, D.C.

Bush’s Bully Pulpit

PRESIDENT George W. Bush has taken to the bully pulpit once again. I am astonished how this administration continues to operate.

Putting the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq aside, the inability of the administration to develop a cogent plan for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the escalating unrest with Iran and a Palestine controlled by Hamas, President Bush has now snubbed Sinn Fein for a second time in the past half year.

Peace is never easy. However, when President Bush took the reigns in 2000, his predecessor had made significant strides to a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

This came at great risks to President Clinton at the time. When everyone in his administration advised against granting a visa to Gerry Adams and others, the president knew that peace is built on trust of the parties involved.

President Clinton gained additional trust by sending Senator George Mitchell as special envoy to Northern Ireland. During the tenure of the current envoy, Mitchell Reiss, talks have been nonexistent, devolution suspended, and now Sinn Fein has been denied once again its ability to fundraise.

Instead of engaging in dialogue with the parties, the current administration continues to carry the water of the Democratic Unionist Party and others that seek to obstruct the path forward.

Previously the issue was decommissioning. Once that was achieved the administration, instead of acknowledging the great strides taken by Sinn Fein, has instead taken to punishing them for their actions.

The frustration is understandably at an all-time high. Every time it appears the process makes a significant stride forward the rules and goals are changed. Clearly not a plan for building trust.

Recently, Judge Peter Cory addressed the Brehon Law Society and shared his findings and recommendations to the Irish and British governments, involving the allegations of collusion by British special forces into the death of Pat Finucane and the RUC’s collusive participation with Loyalist paramilitaries in the death of Rosemary Nelson.

Finucane and Nelson were two civil rights attorneys dedicated to ensuring justice for the Irish (Catholic and Protestant) when wrongfully persecuted by the British government. Somehow, this history is overlooked (or ignored) by the Bush administration when it insists that Sinn Fein accept a system that has victimized those in the North for decades.

Instead of pressuring the British into holding open public inquiries into these murders, the Bush administration continues to assert pressure on Sinn Fein that it embrace a police force that has a history of involvement in the collusion addressed in Judge Cory’s report (albeit the name has changed).

The lack of knowledge and understanding for the process by this administration is evident. What isn’t as clear is how this administration can afford to let an opportunity such as this be squandered, especially in light of the recent elections in Palestine.

In the immortal words of John Lennon, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

Marty Glennon
Suffolk, New York

Insulting Father

AM I the only one in New Jersey who finds it troubling that New Jersey’s Public Television Network (NJN) regularly airs a British made series called Father Ted that depicts the Irish in an insulting and demeaning manner?

I have never seen programming on public television that lampooned Jews, blacks, Poles, Italians, Asians etc., so why are the Irish not shown the same courtesy?

After contacting NJN and asking that they remove the offensive Father Ted from their schedule, I received a reply stating that NJN was “many things to many people,” as if that excused putting anti-Irish bigotry on the public airwaves.

Does anyone doubt for a minute that if this program were called Rabbi Ted and lampooned Jewish characters in Israel that it would be off the air faster than you could say “Anti-Defamation League”?

Where is the Irish American community in New Jersey to raise hell that their tax dollars are subsidizing a public television network promoting negative stereotypes of the Irish such as those on Father Ted? Perhaps instead of yet another parade, what Irish America could really use is a strong and effective Anti-Defamation League.

Kieran Steele
Elizabeth, New Jersey