The Oval Office meeting between President Biden, Vice President Harris and the congressional "big four." Photo by Evan Vucci, Associated Press.
By Irish Echo Staff
President Biden will return to Washington this week after the G7 summit and his meeting with Russia's President Putin and will face a range of legislative issues on Capitol Hill including infrastructure and that hardy annual, immigration and immigration reform.
In this context the president should be keenly aware of the difficulties faced by the Irish in recent decades in securing legal access to America. The story of these difficulties is highlighted in the recently published book, "Unintended Consequences, The Story Of Irish Immigration To The U.S. And How America's Door Was Closed To The Irish" by Irish Echo Editor Ray O'Hanlon.
The photo shows President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hosting the "big four" congressional leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the Oval Office on May 12.
The book on the table is O'Hanlon's "Unintended Consequences." It was presented to the president by Senator Schumer.
Said Schumer in part in a subsequent statement: “I was proud to hand deliver to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, a copy of 'Unintended Consequences' just before the meeting in the White House with the four legislative leaders and the Vice President. President Biden was clearly very pleased to receive the book. As a proud son of Ireland, and a fellow ardent backer of immigration reform, President Biden is keenly aware of both the massive contributions of the Irish to America and the need to improve our current policies to address the undocumented and to rectify certain unintended consequences of past reforms, so that – amongst other things – more people from Ireland can once again help build a better United States of America.”
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