Ireland backs U.S. legalizing illegal aliens

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Ireland's government wants the United States to legalize Irish illegal aliens in the United States, underscoring the intense interest foreign governments are showing in the immigration debate now playing out in Congress.

Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern met yesterday with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and told reporters the Irish parliament has endorsed Mr. Kennedy's bill to grant illegal aliens now here a multistep path to citizenship.

"We do support it ... completely and on an all-party basis, and I want to tease out with him how he sees this matter progressing, particularly given the recent developments, not least the speech by President Bush," Mr. Ahern said.

The issue receives substantial coverage in Irish expatriate newspapers in Boston and New York, but Ireland isn't the only nation to enter the immigration debate. This week, Mexican President Vicente Fox said Mr. Kennedy's bill is his preference, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Mr. Kennedy's proposal would create a guest-worker program open both to new workers from overseas and current illegal aliens. After six years, workers could get a green card, putting them on a path to citizenship. The bill also calls for stricter border security -- something the administration says it's already doing.

Yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned of one such measure aimed at one group of aliens -- those who enter the U.S. illegally from countries other than Mexico (OTMs) -- telling them that if caught, they will be detained until deported.

"The word on the street used to be if you were a non-Mexican and you were caught, you would be released and therefore you were home free. And I know that's a very bad message," Mr. Chertoff said. "We are reversing that: If you are caught at the border, you are going to be detained ... until you're sent back again."

His comments were in response to the "catch-and-release" policy, in which illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico, when detained by the U.S. Border Patrol, get Homeland Security notices to appear before an immigration judge, although fewer than 13 percent show up. Mexicans are immediately returned to Mexico.

Mr. Chertoff said an expedited removal program instituted in all nine Border Patrol sectors on the U.S.-Mexico border will allow agents to detain and later remove OTMs in as little as 32 days. He said expedited removal would give Homeland Security "the ability to gain greater control of our borders."

He acknowledged during a press conference that expedited removal targets only detained illegal aliens from Honduras, Brazil, Nicaragua and Guatemala who have spent less than 14 days in the United States and who are caught within 100 miles of the border.