How About Instead We Try Something Along The Lines Of “No Mellifluously Cute Foreign Accent Left Behind”?

Don’t get me wrong — I like your humorous, self-deprecating style, but if you’re going to convert those anti-amnesty types, you might want to rework that slogan a little:

Rallying under the slogan “No Paddy Left Behind,” about 900 Irish and Irish-Americans packed a town hall meeting in Woodside on immigration reform Friday evening.

Speakers urged the audience, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, to call their elected officials in support of the Kennedy-McCain immigration reform bill. Currently before the Senate, the measure would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States and earn a chance to apply for permanent residency.

. . .

The Kennedy-McCain bill, known as the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, was introduced before the Senate last year by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

The measure would permit undocumented or “illegal” immigrants currently living in America to obtain work visas for up to six years. They could apply for permanent residency after paying fines, passing a background check and completing a period under a temporary visa. The bill would also create a new path to legal immigration through a temporary worker program.

Undocumented Irish immigrants present at the meeting said current laws prevent them from returning home to visit family. They pay taxes, but cannot apply for health insurance or open bank accounts, much less obtain a driver’s license.