Bruce Morrison
Bruce Morrison

Morrison Public Affairs Group is working with the Embassy of Ireland related to its effort to help undocumented Irish in the US gain work and travel authorization under "deferred action" immigration status.

The Bethesda-based firm's focus includes a push to gain E-3 work visas for Ireland, similar to the set-up enjoyed by Australia, the only country under the E-3 scheme. Australia gets 10,500 E-3 work visas.

Bruce Morrison, who was a Congressman from Connecticut, proposed meetings on Capitol Hill and tapping into grassroots networks on behalf of the more than 10,000 undocumented Irish.

John Deasy, Ireland's immigration envoy to the US, said in August that the estimate of 50,000 undocumented Irish in the US, the number that is regularly quoted by the media, is greatly overblown.

There are 11M undocumented people, largely Spanish-speakers, in the US.

Morrison PA Group, which doesn't have a formal contract with the Embassy, recommended a monthly fee of $7,500 for four months of work.

In his email exchange with the Embassy, Morrison expressed a willingness to work for a single $7,500 payment to cover drafting of legislation and explaining its content to Hill staffers.

He did warn that "organizing of political pressure, not just the legal aspects of the language," is is the key to success.

Morrison suggested that funding for his firm's drive could be done directly or though a group such as the Ancient Order of Hibernaians or Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers.