The following excerpt is from a commentary in the Boston Irish Reporter [1].

In my nearly 20 years of organizing and advocating for the Irish and the broader immigrant community in Massachusetts, I have seen amazing changes.

From the early days of the Irish Immigration Center (IIC) to our volunteers becoming recent leaders in the comprehensive immigration reform movement, I have been proud to watch the Irish voice in U.S. politics strengthen.

Irish men and women have united with other immigrant groups, representing peoples from all corners of the globe and all held together by the common ties of the immigrant experience.

We have shown the true compassion and strength of the Irish community by championing the rights of all newcomers to Massachusetts and the nation.

No one can dispute that the Irish have played an important role in the history of American politics. We need only look at the great leaders from Massachusetts with surnames like Kennedy and O'Neill and others.

Well, 21st-century times are changing and demographics are shifting. But each of us can still shape our state and make Massachusetts better.

We can do so by working together and by engaging with the political process as our predecessors did to such great effect. And never more than in a presidential election year.

A central tenet of the IIC mission is the encouraging of eligible Irish immigrants to become U.S. citizens and fully-active citizens.

I am inviting you to join the IIC this year as we promote citizenship, voter registration, and voter education and participation in local, state and federal elections.

We who are citizens already have the privilege of making our opinions heard on the issues that affect our daily lives and [those] of our friends and families who may not yet have that right.

We have all come to America in search of opportunity. The primary means of securing that opportunity is impacting the laws we live under.

If we want America to be what we want it to be, we must make it so. And we must encourage our neighbors to make it so.

Sister Lena Deevy is the executive director of the Irish Immigration Center [2].

Source: BostonIrish.com [3]

Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express permission of the source. Contact Newz for more information.

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