Another Christmas, another time of celebration that is in reality for all too many a time of separation.
There are photos taken at Dublin Airport of happy family members embracing their loved ones who have returned for the holiday season.
None of those in the photos are undocumented Irish from America - unless the have given up on their American Dream and have returned to Ireland for good. And some have.
This Christmas, and due to unrelated albeit tragic events, the U.S. government has shut down the DV1 Diversity Visa program.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has described the program, in a Fox News interview, as being "disastrous" and "dangerous."
What that says about the hundreds of thousands who have received diversity visas down the years, Irish recipients included, is anyone's guess.
Hopefully the majority, if not all of them, have taken the next step to advance from permanent residency status to full citizenship.
What we do know is that the undocumented Irish - and those of all nationalities - are living in a state that is truly disastrous when compared to what life might be had Congress done its job during the 35 year life of the DV1 program and passed comprehensive immigration reform.
And we know that those living in the shadows feel a growing sense of danger as federal enforcement of outdated and unimaginative immigration law hovers outside their front doors like some avenging, malign spirit.
Reports indicate that the budget for immigration "enforcement" is going to be dramatically increased in 2026, thus making the situation for those who dream look even more like a nightmare.
Some are already living a nightmare. There are families separated by the Atlantic ocean. We are not talking about families in the larger, broader sense, but immediate families: parents separated from spouses and children.
Many Americans are of course troubled by this. While supporting the idea of a border under control they also take the view that the vast majority of those who have crossed it illegally pretty much resemble the immigrants of past times who arrived in the country legally.
There are ideas out there with regard to positively dealing with an illegal and undocumented population numbering in the millions. The economy, which is facing into an aging population and lower birth rate, needs the youth and work ability of people from other lands.
There are proposals for work visa programs that do not necessarily grant a guaranteed path to citizenship.
But instead of embracing imaginative and economically helpful ideas the federal government has opted for a blunt instrument approach - an all too often literally blunt one.
For those who fear the knock on the door, the raid at the place of work, the ambush in a courtroom or outside a church, we can only offer sympathy. Hope seems to be off the Christmas wish list for the foreseeable future.
But we have a list nonetheless. It is topped with the idea of political imagination meets essential humanity. America is the land where all things are possible. So why not?
A Happy and Holy Christmas to all.
