Immigrants in Limbo 5 Years After 9/11

[NVMojo]

NEW YORK (AP) - The woman was widowed when her husband died in the terrorists' attack on the World Trade Center, whose twin towers once would have been seen from the windows of the meeting room where she sits with her attorney.

But this Sept. 11 widow is an illegal immigrant - one of about 25 identified as having lost a family member in the disaster - and she could face deportation at any time. So could her 17-year-old son, and she begs him to carry his father's death certificate in case someone asks him why he is in the U.S.

"I can't get a driver's license. I can't go to apply for a job. I can't work. I can't study. I can't fly. I can't do anything," the 38-year-old woman from Ecuador said this past week. She spoke on condition that her name not be used, for fear she might be deported.

A New York City group is urging Congress to pass legislation that would grant permanent residence status to the illegal immigrants who lost family members on Sept. 11.

The bill, called the September 11th Family Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act, is attached as an amendment to the immigration reform package that is tied up in the lame-duck Congress.

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2006/nov/18/111807846.html