Schumer Confirms Enhanced E-3 Program To Be Part Of Senate Bill

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) has announced that the "Schumer E-3 Irish Visa" program would be included in the Senate's comprehensive immigration bill, and that he had beat back efforts to remove it from the bill. 

The provision would allow 10,500 Irish citizens with secondary-level education to find work in the U.S. every year.  Unlike previous programs, this program would be permanent and have no sunset. 

Schumer released the following statement: "As a lead author of the Senate's immigration bill, I made sure that the legislation would allow for increased Irish immigration to America.  Including it in the legislation was important, but keeping it in there through the legislative process was always going to be difficult. 

"[On Thursday] we won a major battle, and beat efforts to strip the provision from the bill. 

"I have always fought hard for increased immigration from Ireland and have had some successes in the past, but the advantage of this provision is that it will be permanent, and will not sunset. 

"I believe that having more immigrants, including Irish immigrants, helps America and grows our economy, and now we have taken a major step in creating a permanent pathway between the two countries.  I won't rest until this provision is signed into law as part of the comprehensive immigration bill.

"It was always the dream of my Senate hero, the late Senator Teddy Kennedy to fix the unintended consequences of the 1965 immigration law, which made it almost impossible for the Irish to legally come to America.

"I am honored to pick up that torch and very pleased we are a giant step close to making it a reality."

This proposal addresses unintended consequences from a 1965 immigration law that inadvertently disadvantaged Irish nationals seeking to enter the United States.

Soon after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which switched the immigration system to one favoring high-skilled workers and reuniting immigrant families, Irish immigration to the U.S. sank by roughly a third.

The decline has worsened in the ensuing decades. The late Senator Edward Kennedy, a chief sponsor of the 1965 law, acknowledged the inadvertent impact on the Irish.

In 2006, he noted of the 1965 law: "What we were trying to do was eliminate the discrimination that existed in the law, but the way that that legislation was developed worked in a very dramatic and significant way against the Irish."