Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.
By Julia Conley / Common Dreams
After spending much of the past two years enabling President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policy and blocking the House from voting on bipartisan legislation to protect young immigrants, outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) is showing recent enthusiasm for welcoming a select group of immigrants—not the thousands of Central Americans who are in a camp in Tijuana, Mexico, waiting to seek asylum in the U.S., but people from his family’s own homeland.
Ryan pushed through a bill that passed in the House late last month, giving thousands of E-3 work visas to Irish nationals. The bill is expected to pass in the Senate this week.
Pushing white #Irish immigrants through, while detaining hundreds of people at America’s border with Mexico? The hypocrisy of this administration is shameful. @irishstand
Ryan pushes for thousands of Irish visas before leaving office – POLITICO https://t.co/OiStRjIGFp
— Caroline B. Heafey (@_cheafey) December 15, 2018
Next time the right bitches about “identity politics”, remind them of the time that the outgoing GOP Speaker of the House pushed for thousands of Irish visas because his family came from Ireland. #sundaymorninghttps://t.co/BRE3Y3FF0G
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) December 16, 2018
E-3 visas are currently available only to Australians with certain occupations, but under the proposal, thousands of unused visas would go to Irish nationals.
As Politico reported, Ryan’s own ancestors came to the U.S. in the 1850s, fleeing the potato famine there. The House Speaker reportedly hopes to be appointed as U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
@SpeakerRyan didn’t want to vote on starving children in Yemen, but made time to expand Irish visas, where he’d like to be an ambassador some day? Ooh fuck no. https://t.co/K9SkG0yt4f
— SenverDammy (@SenverDammy) December 15, 2018
Ryan’s support for the bill was denounced by critics on social media, including the Irish social justice podcast “Irish Stand.”
You’ve insulted your Irish heritage a thousand times by supporting Trump @SpeakerRyan.
The 7 year old who died of dehydration mirrors the Irish famine children who died in coffin ships.
End your career in silence, not with a pathetic pandering to the heritage you’ve disgraced. https://t.co/VsT6wSlYJl— Irish Stand (@irishstand) December 15, 2018
Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
