Minister welcomes new agreement on US immigration reform
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has welcomed a new US Senate agreement on overhauling the country's immigration policy.
The proposals, which have yet to be debated and passed into law, would allow millions of illegal immigrants in the US to seek a green card after they have spent four years in America.
They have been drawn up following intensive lobbying by groups representing undocumented immigrants in the US, including an estimated 50,000 Irish people.
Senator Ted Kennedy has described the agreement as the best possible chance to bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America.
Ahern, meanwhile, says the proposals are good news for Irish immigrants, who will now have a path to permanent US residency.
