A Republican Congressman has said that US authorities must "figure out a framework" in which undocumented Irish people living in the United States can stay there legally.
There are qustions over the future of thousands of Irish people living undocumented in the US as president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the ‘largest deportation effort in American history’.
Ohio Representative David Joyce told RTÉ’s States of Mind podcast that he believes that the US could see "hundreds of thousands" being deported from the country when Mr Trump takes office.
However when asked should Irish people worry about Mr Trump's pledge, Mr Joyce said he believes that those who are going to be deported will be "criminals".
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"Those who are here illegally and are criminals ... have committed crimes here in this country... they need to go as fast as we can get them out of the country," he said
Mr Trump is expected to mobilise agencies across the US government to help him deport record numbers of immigrants.
"You want to deport everybody but the reality of that is that it would be very, very tough to do," the congressman added.
Congressman Joyce, who was last week re-elected for another term, said he understands that there are a lot of "good Irish" that have integrated into US society and are productive.
"We have to figure out a framework in which those folks can work and stay here and get to stay on with their lives and we got to figure out how we get rid of the rest," he said.
Listen to the latest episode of RTÉ's States of Mind, or download from wherever you get your podcasts
