When Lena Deevy came to Harvard University from Dublin to study for a master's degree, she chose to write her dissertation on undocumented immigrants in Boston. She knew the city was full of young Irish men and women, living stressful lives in an "underground" existence.
To do her research, she had to hang out where the undocumented gather: in the many Irish pubs in the city. The fact that Lena is a Little Sister of the Assumption did not deter her; small, blonde and vivacious, she looks more like a young immigrant worker herself, rather than the determined and sweetly aggressive nun that she is.
As she met them and got to know their stories, it soon became apparent to Lena that these young immigrants desperately needed a place that would provide the help and support they required to adjust to a new land, economically, psychologically and culturally.
Having worked as a nurse in Wales and directed the home care service in Ballymun for 20 years before coming to the United States, Lena knows how to meet challenges head on. What began in a small basement office in the Dorchester area of Boston in 1989 has now grown into three offices, a fulltime staff of six, and 100 volunteers who assist thousands of immigrants daily. The volunteers were themselves immigrants and know what it is to experience discrimination and, for the undocumented, fear of discovery.
Immigration advice
The Irish Immigration Centre provides immigration advice as well as help with housing, jobs, drivers' licences, day care, health care, and problems relating to landlords, relationships, and deportation. It has also recently added a substance abuse clinic, which provides help with drug, alcohol and cigarette addictions.
The "hotline" phone rings "all the time"; over 20,000 telephone calls a year come into the centre and 6,500 visitors passed through its doors in 1996. A young immigration attorney and board member, Eoin Reilly, conducts a free legal clinic each month. There are workshops on employment strategies, financial investments, taxes, education, citizenship applications and leadership training. Although some university educated immigrants adjust and move quickly up the corporate ladder, many need time and support to find ways to use their skills and qualifications in a new market or in their own field. Many graduates find they have to undergo a long adjustment period in the job market before finally getting into their particular "niche". Some become discouraged at not being able to use their education and often find themselves working as couriers, cleaners, construction workers, bar staff, or security guards. The centre has comprehensive job listings and is used by both professional and unskilled workers.
"Many of these young immigrants suffer from low-grade depression; they think they are coming to a `friendly Irish city' when they come to Boston," Lena Deevy says. "But the current wave of them don't have family here, and few friends when they arrive, and they are very lonely. Speaking the same language and being white often masks deep cultural differences. They come from a white society in Ireland. Here they must learn to live in a multi-cultured society. They gain an appreciation of their own culture when they learn about other cultures. It's interesting that our classes in the Irish language are very popular.
Becoming American
"Past generations of immigrants were assimilated much more quickly because they knew they could never go back, and they were very eager to `become American' as soon as they could. Now the young people can come and go, which is wonderful in one way, but they are more ambivalent about where they finally want to settle."
The new welfare legislation recently passed in Congress makes it crucial for long-term residents in the US to become citizens in order to qualify for various levels of financial assistance. The centre spearheaded a citizenship campaign, which educates and encourages people to become citizens. Lena gave an example of the need for this service:
"Mary is a 75-year-old Irish widow living here since her 20s, who had never become a citizen because she did not want to give up her allegiance to Ireland. But with the new legislation she would lose her supplementary social security income and her food coupons; she is dependent on those benefits. She always worked, as did many Irish women of her generation, as a nanny/maid, in low-paying, non-pensionable jobs."
For all its crucial and valuable work, the centre exists on a shoestring. The Irish Government gives the centre a small amount of money - in each of the last two years it received $35,000 - the funds for its $300,000 budget come mainly from donations from IrishAmericans, and from foundations.
Fund-raising dinner
Each year a fund-raising dinner is held, and a prominent Irish-American or Irish person is honoured. The previous President, Mrs Mary Robinson; Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and the local businessman and philanthropist, Mr John Cullinane, have been guests of honour at past dinners.
In a speech to the Houses of the Oireachtas entitled "Cherishing the Irish Diaspora" in February 1995, Mrs Robinson said: "As well as having to search for jobs, they [young immigrants] may well find themselves lonely or homesick . . . and unwilling to accept the loss of face of returning home. It hardly matters . . . if they are graduates or unskilled. What matters is that they should have access to the support and advice they need."
Lena Deevy, her staff and volunteers at the Irish Immigration Centre are providing this support and advice. She needs all the help she can get.