Bill to ease Irish immigration to US ‘about to pop’ in the Senate, says Sen. Brown

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) on Tuesday predicted that a bill he is sponsoring to ease immigration to the United States for Irish nationals is "about to pop" in the Senate. 

“In Massachusetts we have such a strong demand for this because of our family and cultural ties,” said Brown about the Irish immigration bill. “This is kind of a no-brainer.”

Brown, who is locked in a fierce reelection battle with opponent Elizabeth Warren, is looking to add the immigration bill, which would appeal in particularly to his Boston constituency, to a string of recent victories in the Senate. Of the few bills that have managed to clear the divided chamber in recent months, Brown was the sponsor of a measure late last year that offered tax incentives for businesses that hire veterans and another last week that would affirm that members of Congress, like all Americans, are subject to insider-trading laws. 

The bill sponsored by Brown would raise the number of work visas per year allotted to the Irish to 10,500, the Boston Herald reports. Brown has been working hard to gain support from his collegues including the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and hopes the bill can be passed with little controversy by unanimous consent possibly as soon as Thursday.

“It helps people become legal citizens, proper taxpayers,” said Brown as reported by the Herald. “I’m trying to work with Sen. Grassley to have them [members of the Judiciary Committee] step back from their objections.

“It really addresses something that’s been wrong and provides a legal path for citizenship,” said Brown.