They came in their hundreds, young Irish nannies trailing their American charges, construction workers, bartenders, waitresses and aunts mailing for nieces and nephews in Ireland.
There was a tangible air of excitement and hope.
They were seeking one of the Morrison visas, a three-year visa program which guaranteed 48,000 green cards to Irish applicants. For many, a visa gained in this manner will be their only hope of ever becoming legal.
Around the country they gathered at drop-off points such as our office from where staffers of our sister publication, Irish Voice, ferried their applications to Merrifield, Virginia where they were mailed to the State Department-designated address.
Despite some adverse publicity, no one was apologizing for the fact that the Irish were guaranteed 40 percent of all visas issued, least of all Bruce Morrison, the former Connecticut congressman who had spear-headed the bill. “Two reasons they got that were,” says Morrison, “they were among the most adversely affected by the 1965 law. And they carried the ball on the legislation-not just their part, but the entire act.”
It was good to see the Irish get together on the immigration issue.
But as the applications collected in our office alone grew to an estimated 200,000, there was born a sinking feeling that there wouldn’t be enough, even over three years, to go around. I thought about the young couple who had stopped by the office, she all efficiency; he joking to hide the anxiety. They had two children.
Ironically, the children born in New York were U.S. citizens but the parents were undocumented.
They were pinning all their hopes on a Morrison. Were they still in with a chance?
Murphy’s Law was in full effect in Ireland where the postal services were halted by a strike. The public outcry caused the government to intervene. Arrangements were made to deliver the applications by special delivery to the United States from where they were then mailed.
As Irish Voice columnist John Spain put it, “Once again somebody was making money out of the plight of our young people To send applications via express mail cost $3.22 per letter. A total of 160,000 were mailed this way alone.”
A radio station in Ireland’s Mid-West offered to collect visa entries that they would then transfer over to radio show host Adrian Flannelly in New York. They receive 10,200 applications on one day.
The director of the Mid and North West Radio, Paul Claffey, described it like this. “We were commenting how sad it was to see the cream of the crop coming in with applications, but what struck home most was the amount of mothers and fathers that were coming in with applications for their children; making sure that those applications got off. Once upon a time they would have been trying to keep the kids at home. Now things are obviously so bad they are encouraging them to go across. Either that or they had kids over there and they were desperate for them to be able to come home and visit.”
In all an estimated 20 million applications were mailed. Time will tell who the lucky winners will be. For thousands more it will be shattered dreams at least until next year.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the November 1991 issue of Irish America. ♦
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