Immigration has regularly been a source of political and social tension in the United States, and this tension has increased since the last time comprehensive immigration reform stalled in Congress. That was in 2013, when a descendant of 19th-century immigrants, then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, declined to move the Senate-approved immigration reform package through the House of Representatives. But conflict over immigration is not limited to the United States.
The issue has also been a flashpoint in Italy, Greece, Spain, and other European states that border migration routes out of Africa and the Middle East, and it has become one of the biggest political issues in a country better known for producing immigrants than accepting them—Ireland. In fact, the Irish have their own variant of America firstism raging across social media, promoting “Ireland for the Irish” rallies and protests over the number of refugees and asylum seekers allowed entry in recent years.
Native-born Irish share familiar concerns about the “quality” of these immigrants, the criminal danger that single men among them allegedly represent, and the squandering of government resources on immigrant settlement even as a housing and homelessness crisis in Ireland continues. Tensions over immigration reached a shocking crescendo in November when anti-immigrant riots broke out in Dublin after a naturalized citizen attacked three schoolchildren and a school caregiver with a knife.
For years immigration into Ireland had carried on without provoking much pushback from native-born Irish. But the novelty of this historic reversal has apparently worn off as economic and identity anxieties rise across Ireland. After enduring historical calamities such as the Great Hunger, British colonialism, and civil war, Ireland has suffered significant population losses that suggest it should be a nation willing to welcome immigration. But Ireland is also a nation that has, like many other European states, flirted with a right-wing extremism that is nourished by xenophobia.
It will surprise no one that a recent sociological study reports that asylum-seekers and immigrants most welcome in Europe share a few model qualities: high employability, legitimate humanitarian vulnerabilities, and the Christian faith. Researchers found a strong anti-Muslim bias in public attitudes toward immigrants. This suggests that Irish and other European political and moral leaders have their work cut out for them.
Like the United States, Ireland and other EU states confront a vast 21st-century migration crisis. Millions are on the move across the world because of poverty and political dysfunction, conflict, and climate change. But this phenomenon is hardly without precedent. Migration is a fact of the human experience that long predates novel innovations such as nationalism and geopolitical borders.
EU officials made progress in sharing the burden of contemporary migration in a pact negotiated in December 2023—a modest step toward decelerating social tension—but leaders in Ireland and elsewhere need to do a better job telling the stories of migrants and fostering transparency on immigration policy and its sacrifices and benefits. It doesn’t help when irresponsible political figures exploit the issue for populist footholds.
When Ryan’s Catholic ancestors first landed in the United States in the 19th century, they were targets of suspicion, prejudice, and sometimes much worse. The wheels of time and history have turned, and now Orthodox and Muslim immigrants face similar treatment as they seek a new home in a historically depopulated Ireland. Here’s hoping that after tempers and anxieties have settled, these migrants find in Ireland a place of refuge, peace, and opportunity—a lot like the new homeland my grandparents found when they left Ireland’s troubles behind and came to the United States.
This article also appears in the March 2024 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 89, No. 3, page 42). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
Image: Wikimedia Commons/CanalEnthusiast
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