Irish Immigration Reform Movement, New York Chapter Records
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Abstract
The Irish Immigration Reform Movement (IIRM) was a grassroots organization established in 1987 whose primary objective was to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants from Ireland and 34 other countries adversely affected by America's 1965 Immigration Act. Working for legislative reform, the IIRM grew from a small New York-based group to a national organization with branches from Boston to San Francisco. The Irish Immigration Reform Movement (IIRM) records chronicle its activities on behalf of undocumented Irish immigrants between 1987 and 1990. The collection also includes materials related to the 1988 establishment of its sister organization, the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC), and to that organization's work meeting the day-to-day needs of immigrants through 2007.
Historical/Biographical Note
The Irish Immigration Reform Movement (IIRM) was a grassroots organization established in 1987 whose primary objective was to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants from Ireland and 34 other countries adversely affected by America's 1965 Immigration Act. The IIRM ceased activities in 1992.
Working for legislative reform, the IIRM grew from a small New York-based group to a national organization with branches in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Washington, Kansas City, San Francisco and San Jose. Combining traditional grassroots activism with inside-the-beltway lobbying, the IIRM leveraged Irish-American political influence to help shape U.S. immigration policy in the late 1980s and in the process energized the Irish-American political presence in Washington.
The Immigration Act of 1990 (H.R. 4300) stands as the primary legislative legacy of the IIRM. This legislation provided a three-year transitional visa program through which 48,000 visas were granted to Ireland, as well as the annual diversity visa lottery program which continued into the twenty-first century.
Reflecting the IIRM's "all-Ireland" perspective, the transitional visa program contained a provision defining Northern Ireland as a separate state. This unique element, secured through intensive lobbying by the IIRM, enabled thousands from Northern Ireland to participate in the visa lottery who, prior to this, had been ineligible because the United States' immigration system classified them as English.
The IIRM was also instrumental in securing 25,000 visas for Ireland through several extensions of the Donnelly Visa program from 1988 up to the implementation of the Immigration Act of 1990.
In order to address the day-to-day problems of documented as well as undocumented Irish at that time, IIRM members established the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC), which since 1988 has served as a model for similar advice and advocacy agencies in the United States. It operates New York City offices in Woodside, Queens and in Woodlawn, the Bronx.
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically. Collection is arranged into six series:
I. Administration II. Fundraising III. Legislation IV. Lobbying V. Publications VI. Nonprint materials
Folders are arranged alphabetically. Collection is arranged into six series:
Missing Title
- I. Administration, 1985-2003
- II. Fundraising, 1987-1993
- III. Legislation, 1986-1990
- IV. Lobbying, 1984-1997
- V. Publications, 1978-2000
- VI. Nonprint materials, 1986-2007
Scope and Content Note
The Irish Immigration Reform Movement (IIRM) records chronicle its activities on behalf of undocumented Irish immigrants between 1987 and 1990. The collection also includes materials related to the 1988 establishment of its sister organization, the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC), and to that organization's work meeting the day-to-day needs of immigrants through 2007. The IIRM story unfolds through minutes, correspondence, petitions, flyers, legislative and lobbying materials, membership and financial records, publications, posters, photographs, clippings, and ephemera generated by the New York office and by branches across the country.
While its constituency was primarily "New Irish" who had emigrated in the 1980s, the IIRM papers document relationships with the previous generation of Irish immigrants as well as with the Irish-American community; see, for example, files on the Immigration Subcommittee of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish Immigration Working Committee as well as many of the organizations represented in Series II: Fundraising. Among the correspondents are top Irish government officials like Charles J. Haughey (1925-2006) and Brian Lenihan (1930-1995); and members of the U.S. Congress, including Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Bruce A. Morrision (D-CT), and Charles Schumer (D-NY).
In 1988 the IIRM hired the lobbying firm of Holt, Miller and Associates to assist them to plan and organize to bring their message before the United States Congress. They worked closely with its principal, Harris N. Miller, a veteran of the Immigration and Refugees Subcommittee staff of Ron Mazzoli (D-KY), who had given his name to the bill that created the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. A significant portion of this collection documents Miller's work on behalf of the IIRM in 1988 and 1989. In addition, there are extensive papers (including reference materials) relating to various House and Senate bills on immigration reform between 1986 and 1990, especially H.R. 4300 (Immigration Act of 1990). Of particular interest is Don Martin's testimony on Legal Immigration Reform to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law in September 1989 (Box 7, Folder 14); and the IIRM's "Case for Immigration Reform" presented to Joe Moakley (D-MA), Chairman on Rules, U.S. House of Representatives in 1990 (Box 12, Folder 22).
The Emerald Isle Immigration Center's work in the late 1980s – particularly its efforts to obtain bank accounts, driver's licenses, housing, medical insurance, education, and legal protection for undocumented immigrants – constitutes another large segment of the IIRM papers. EIIC records from 1990-2007 which were accessioned with the IIRM papers have remained integrated in Series I. Administration; the later years reflect services that include job-training and placement as well as citizenship and voter registration drives as a means to empowerment. In 1998 the EIIC presented President Bill Clinton with the Paul O'Dwyer Peace and Justice Award at a White House ceremony on September 11, 1998 (Box 13, Folder 9).
The efforts of key individuals on behalf of the IIRM and the EIIC are documented in Series I. in the files of Sean Minihane, Pat Hurley, Sean Benson, and Brian O'Dwyer as well as in the minutes of the Steering Committee and National Council which can be found in Series IV.
Among the historic publications included in this collection is "Tarnishing the Golden Door," the 1989 report of the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Series VI. Nonprint Materials includes an IIRM public-service announcement made in September 1987 by entertainer Tommy Makem; a 24-minute video, "The New Irish in America: Living in the Shadows" made in 1987 by the IIRM; and two mini-DV cassettes recording the IIRM's 20th anniversary reunion event held at New York University in October 2007.
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Organizations
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Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Irish Immigration Reform Movement were transferred to New York University in 2007 by donor. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library. Please contact:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Irish Immigration Reform Movement Records; AIA 016; box number; folder number;
Archives of Irish America, Tamiment Library
New York University
Location of Materials
Custodial History
Gift of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement, 1997. The papers of the IIRM were housed in the offices of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC) in the Woodside section of Queens, NY. They were surveyed there by Marion R. Casey and Katie Senft in June 2001. In December 2006 they were transferred by deed of gift to the Archives of Irish America at the Tamiment Library, New York University.
