President George W Bush has announced plans to create a class of legal 'guest workers' in the United States.
Mr Bush proposed giving some of the estimated 8-14m illegal immigrants in the country a way to gain three-year temporary work permits, but offered them no clear path to becoming US citizens.
'Our laws should allow willing foreigners to enter our country and fill jobs that Americans are not filling. We must make our immigration laws more rational and more humane,' he said.
The proposal seemed designed to win Hispanic support in the November presidential election, while pleasing employers looking for workers to fill mainly manual, agricultural or low paid service jobs.
The President said he was not offering amnesty for people who entered the United States illegally, but opponents of making concessions to immigrants said that was exactly what he had done.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, welcomed the announcement.
Mr Cowen said the initiative gave renewed hope to those who, for whatever reason, have been unable to regularise their status in the US.
He said his Department would need to study the details of the proposals carefully before assessing their implications for undocumented Irish nationals in the US.
Analysts have indicated the plans are unlikely to get Congressional approval prios to the elections.
