They run businesses. They tend bars. They pay taxes. While they are in the U.S. illegally, they are largely spared the scrutiny of that label. But still they live in fear. They are the thousands of undocumented Irish immigrants in America today.
Recent estimates from the Irish government suggest that there are as many as 10,000 undocumented Irish immigrants across the United States. Many have lived in the shadows for decades, waiting for a pathway to citizenship that may never come. And with a new president that has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, anxieties have been heightened.
“It’s definitely a concern, definitely a worry,” Mary, an undocumented Irish immigrant in New England, told CBS News. “I’ve heard of different people, you know, getting caught up in a swoop of undocumented people — some of them may be criminals, but some of them may not be, and it’s just a situation of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Mary, and others interviewed for this story, asked that their full names not be used to maintain their anonymity.
Irish privilege?
While Mary fears for her own status, she says communities of color are bearing the brunt of President Trump’s immigration crackdown while she can somewhat fly under the radar.
“There’s some very hardworking people that have set up businesses and are employing people and all of a sudden, you know, they’re on a plane somewhere, their lives have changed, and it’s very hard,” she said. “I absolutely do feel for people.”
Aisling, an undocumented Irish waitress in Chicago, who has lived in America for eight years, says that while she is concerned she may become a “collateral damage” target for the administration, ICE raids in her neighborhood have targeted predominantly Latino communities — something she has condemned as racist.
“If ICE were to walk into my work, I could definitely just blend in with the crowd, but the fear for me is getting pulled over or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she told CBS News.
CBS News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment as to how ICE conducts its enforcement operations and whether the characterization that they are specifically targeting Hispanic and Latino communities is a fair one.
Mick, who arrived in New York from Ireland in 2000, said public treatment of Irish people in the U.S. was in many ways the opposite of what other nationalities face. “I used to find it quite unfair hearing how locals would speak about these immigrants coming here,” he explained. “I’d have to remind them, say, ‘Hey guys, I’m an immigrant.'” The attitude, he said, was, “‘Yeah, but you’re different.'”
Mick was undocumented for the first few years he lived in the U.S., but he is now a citizen and describes himself as a proud New Yorker. He said there was a “much broader fear” among immigrant communities now during the second Trump administration.
“There’s tips being posted online … for people to report businesses if they suspect there’s undocumented people working. It’s horrible. There’s definitely a feeling here, which is new and not nice,” he said.
Ciara, who arrived in the U.S. before President Trump took office, said she was on a J-1 visa, which allows for educational and cultural exchange, but working illegally on the side. “There is a bit of a safety net” for Irish people in the hospitality industry, she said.
“It definitely is a worry, but I think I am definitely very privileged as well. I’m a White Irish girl with a third-level [college] education, so I think I’m in a lot more secure position to a lot of other people who are undocumented.”
But immigration attorneys have told CBS News that it would be naive for Irish undocumented people to believe that they may be immune to deportation.
“When Irish people come here, they come on what we call the visa waiver program, so that allows them to come to the United States without going to the consulate in Dublin, and they can come in for 90 days and stay for 90 days, and so most of them [who are undocumented] overstay,” John Foley, a Boston-based immigration attorney told CBS News.
“The waiver part means they waive all rights to judicial processing, meaning they can be removed or deported from the United States without going in front of a judge,” Foley said. “If you’re an ICE officer and you need to get 40 people a week, it’s Thursday and you’re at 27, you don’t care where the last 13 come from.”
Contribution to the American economy
Tom, a New York bar owner and legal resident in Manhattan, told CBS News that he has employed many undocumented Irish workers as well as undocumented Central and South American staff in his pub over the years. He says he couldn’t operate as a business owner without them.
“I’d say 90% of the restaurants and small businesses in this city would close down if you took away the [undocumented] immigrants,” Tom said. “The folks who want to do those jobs are people that don’t have clear legal paths into America.”
An estimate from the American Immigration Council showed that undocumented immigrants in America contributed $75.6 billion in taxes in 2022. That included $29 billion in state and local taxes and $46.6 billion in federal taxes.
Aisling, in Chicago, says her colleagues at the bar where she works are predominantly undocumented.
“The business relies on it, basically … people coming in applying for jobs here, it’s not Americans coming in and applying. They don’t want to do these jobs,” she said.
Legal pathways for undocumented immigrants are limited
Mary, in New England, arrived in the U.S. in 1999. In the 26 years that she has lived in America, she has become a property owner and is self-employed. For the past 14 years, she has been trying to obtain sponsorship for legal residency through a legal petition from her brother, who is an American citizen. That process is still pending with no end in sight.
“There isn’t really any opportunities,” she said. “There isn’t a path right now for me.”
It’s an issue facing many undocumented immigrants working in the United States today, where few legal pathways exist, and where they do, massive backlogs and bureaucracy cause long processing delays.
A 2023 policy analysis from the conservative think tank the Cato Institute said that fewer than 1% of people who want to move permanently to the United States can do so legally.
One young Irish woman who overstayed her visa waiver in New York and is now working in a bar in Manhattan told CBS News that she just wants to work, but the avenues are limited.
“I would prefer to be legal and have legal status, but it was hard in general to get a visa, and I feel like now, it’s 10 times harder to even consider trying to get a visa,” she said.
Mick, who eventually obtained citizenship, said he would support amnesty for people without criminal convictions who are living illegally in the U.S. and contribute to communities.
“A lot of the people who are coming to our countries and our shores are coming here because of policies that we’ve allowed to happen and that have benefited us for decades,” he said. “I feel like we should be looking after people who need help the most. And I’ve never met any evil, nasty people who eat dogs and cats who came here legally or illegally.”
An Oval Office meeting, with views at odds
When President Trump meets with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday, he will be continuing an annual Oval Office tradition in which the White House hosts the Irish Taoiseach, or leader, to mark St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
Ahead of that event, the White House has been sharing familiar praise about the Emerald Isle’s historic contribution to the United States.
“Irish Americans have played a crucial role in our great American story — courageously overcoming adversity and hardship to embolden our culture, enliven our spirit, and fortify our way of life,” Mr. Trump said in a statement released by the White House as the president declared March as Irish-American Heritage Month.
But amid the handshakes and shamrocks, some sharp differences on this issue may arise.
While Mr. Trump has vowed to carry out the removal of millions of undocumented immigrants, the Irish government has for years lobbied for comprehensive immigration reform that would offer legitimacy to undocumented Irish workers in the U.S.
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