Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny has spent his visit to the United States lecturing President Donald Trump about immigration.
During the “Friends of Ireland” luncheon Thursday afternoon, Kenny spoke of Irish contributions throughout American history and even referenced Mike Pence’s Irish grandfather.
Kenny also spoke about changing the E3 visa process and about the approximately 50,000 illegal Irish immigrants living in the United States:
And I’d just like to say in finality, this is what I said to your predecessor on a number of occasions: We would like this to be sorted. It would remove a burden of so many people that they can stand out in the light and say, now I am free to contribute to America as I know I can. And that’s what people want.
At the end of his remarks, Kenny directed his attention on Trump and said there are millions of people who “want to make America great” and asked Trump if he has heard the phrase:
And this administration, working with Democrats and Republicans, I hope, can sort this out once and for all. And for future years, you determine what it is that you want to do. As George Mitchell said last evening, you can’t return to open immigration, but for the people who are here -- who should be here, might be here -- that’s an issue that I’m sure your administration will reflect on. And we in Ireland will give you every assistance in that regard.
There are millions out there who want to play their part for America -- if you like, who want to make America great. Heard it before? Heard that before?
Later in the day, at the St. Patrick’s Day Reception, Kenny mentioned St. Patrick was, “of course,” an immigrant:
It's fitting that we gather here each year to celebrate St. Patrick and his legacy. He, too, of course, was an immigrant. And though he is, of course, the patron saint of Ireland, for many people around the globe, he is also a symbol of, indeed, the patron of immigrants.
Kenny explained that the Irish came over to America because they were “deprived of liberty, deprived of opportunity, of safety, of even food itself” and that they “believed in the shelter of America, and the compassion of America, and the opportunity of America”:
Here in America, your great country, 35 million people claim Irish heritage, and the Irish have contributed to the economic, social, political and cultural life of this great country over the last 200 years. Ireland came to America because, deprived of liberty, deprived of opportunity, of safety, of even food itself, the Irish believed, four decades before Lady Liberty lifted her lamp, we were the “wretched refuse on the teeming shore.” We believed in the shelter of America, and the compassion of America, and the opportunity of America. We came, and we became Americans.
While Kenny spoke to the Trump administration about accepting immigrants into the country and the plight of illegal Irish immigrants, the Irish reportedly planned to deport or refuse entry to 4,000 people in 2016--which is the highest in six years.
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