Immigration reform likely topic as Kerry adds Ireland visit to trip

Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Ireland on Wednesday for a meeting with Ireland's Foreign Minister, Eamon Gilmore, the State Department said.

During the visit, Kerry can be expected to be pressed on the status of immigration-reform legislation.

Irish ambassador Michael Collins has been pushing lawmakers to include the estimated 50,000 immigrants from Ireland who have overstayed their visas in any deal, The Hill reported last month. And Gilmore himself, who also serves as deputy prime minister, has taken a lead role in lobbying Congress, telling the Irish Parliament last month that he would “hold a series of telephone discussions with key U.S. senators over the coming days” about the issue.

The unexpected visit to Ireland adds a tenth stop to Kerry's inaugural trip, which had been scheduled to end Wednesday with a stop in Doha, Qatar. 

Kerry met Tuesday with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani, who expressed regret that the Obama administration has balked at providing weapons to the rebels in Syria.

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