Here’s a new five minute documentary from the Migrant Rights Centre that tracks the experiences of two undocumented workers.  One happens to be an Irish man in New York city and the other is a female childminder from the Philippines based in Dublin.

Here’s how the press release from the MRCI describes the project:

“In the documentary short Half the World Away: Undocumented in Dublin and New York, Patrick and Marites share their fears, their hopes, and their pain at being separated from family at Christmas.· Film will go live online at 12 noon (see preview link below) following a pre-screening for politicians in Leinster House hosted by Justice Committee member Senator Katherine Zappone. Patrick is from Cork, Ireland. Marites is from Batangas in the Philippines. He lives in New York and works in construction.”

The MRCI reckons there are about 20,000 and 26,000 undocumented migrants – including their dependents and loved ones– living and working in Ireland. As our politicians yearn for annual column inches with faff about the undocumented Irish stateside, the MRCI have been making the obvious link on this for a while now, with a wonderful message of hope and solidarity being sent from one group of people without papers to another last Paddy’s Day.

Give it a watch above and have a read of our interview with the Migrant Rights Centre from a few issues back here.