Make 9/11 Widows Citizens

by: Hopeful

Sat Sep 02, 2006 at 03:42:58 PM EDT

One widow has more than $2 million but walks or rides the bus everywhere, terrified of drawing attention. Another millionaire widow stopped going to 9/11 support groups because she feared that families of police officers and firefighters might betray her. A widower has enough money to start a business building houses, but cannot buy himself a home.

All three lost a husband or a wife when the World Trade Center collapsed. Like thousands of others, they were beneficiaries of the federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, which awarded millions of dollars to families whose loved ones died in the attacks.

But a secret sets these three apart. Like their spouses who died, each is in the country illegally. Even though the government compensated them richly for their losses, making them wealthier than they ever dreamed, the money did not change their immigration status. They fear they could be deported any day.

If you remember the beginning of The Godfather, Don Corleone aids a young couple in love by arranging for a special act of Congress so the young man -- an Italian Prisoner of War no less -- can become a U.S. citizen.  It's fiction, of course, but I'd like to think the U.S. government can match the Mafia in generosity. 

So why are these husbands and wives of 9/11 victims living in fear?  As far as I can tell, Congress really does have power to make individuals citizens by special law, and if ever there was a special case this is it.  Their names are known to the government, after all.  Obviously the families cannot come forward and ask for it, but someone in Congress should step up, quietly make the arrangements with the leadership of both houses and the President, and take care of business.  Why not a New Jersey congressman?  The current situation is an injustice and an embarrassment to the United States of America.