Comments on: Immigrant Widows Left In Limbo

Once On A Path To Permanent Residency, Some Widows Of Americans Face Deportation

[ahenderson8]

I was bolling inside as I watched the segment. I know from experience of what''s it like to work with Immigrations - it is not a customer friendly organization. Too bad they have no competition for if they did they would be out of business tomorrow. I applied for a marriage visa which was suppose to have taken a year and in the end it took more than 2 and a half years which included two trips from California to the American Consulate in Frankfurt Germany. This is a service you pay for and service should be much better. To make matters even more frustrating I applied earlier in the year to petition to remove my wife''s conditions on permanent residence and specifically followed instructions sent with her residence card which cost approximately $400. A few weeks afterwards I was sent letter informing me another form should have been used. I called to ask for a refund of the approximately $400 and was told they do not give refunds - can you believe that. I now have my congressman involved in trying to get my money back. I did send in another form which cost almost $600. According to the posted processing time to get my wife''s conditions removed for residence is 6 months and this was done at the start of the year. It apppears that Immigrations may just perhaps be under staffed to handle changes due to 9/11. If that is the case and with umemployment at an all time high, then train and bring more people on board. Needless to say, I''m an unhappy camper with Immigration services.

[lavau-2009]

It isn''t that simple... A few bad apples make things horrible for the innocent people.
Some people do love their spouses and others only use them for residency..

[farmlady999]

doesn''t surprise me...
our government doesn''t care about our windowed citizens
when my husband died I was 55 yrs old and had not worked outside the home/farm during our marriage ....but I am still waiting until I am 60 to get my widows benefits.... I also don''t drive and live on a rural farm... so getting a job at 55 would be imposable....
my husband was a union man and worked very hard for over 30 yrs at the same company....but died 2 weeks earlier than Boeing said he could ...so no medical pension...also died on the day social security was to send out the medical benefits so they canceled the check
I could understand if I was working but I wasn''t .... I was lucky I had some money left of my husband death money insurance that the contractor thief didn''t steal but now I will be left with no buffer for emergencies..
it could be worse ....but it didn''t have to be this difficult.... I hope I don''t loose my home in the future....
widows are treated as 2nd class citizens

[farmlady999]

doesn''t surprise me...
our government doesn''t care about our windowed citizens
when my husband died I was 55 yrs old and had not worked outside the home/farm during our marriage ....but I am still waiting until I am 60 to get my widows benefits.... I also don''t drive and live on a rural farm... so getting a job at 55 would be imposable....
my husband was a union man and worked very hard for over 30 yrs at the same company....but died 2 weeks earlier than Boeing said he could ...so no medical pension...also died on the day social security was to send out the medical benefits so they canceled the check
I could understand if I was working but I wasn''t .... I was lucky I had some money left of my husband death money insurance that the contractor thief didn''t steal but now I will be left with no buffer for emergencies..
it could be worse ....but it didn''t have to be this difficult.... I hope I don''t loose my home in the future....

[farmlady999]

doesn''t surprise me...
our government doesn''t care about our windowed citizens
when my husband died I was 55 yrs old and had not worked outside the home/farm during our marriage ....but I am still waiting until I am 60 to get my widows benefits.... I also don''t drive and live on a rural farm... so getting a job at 55 would be imposable....
my husband was a union man and worked very hard for over 30 yrs at the same company....but died 2 weeks earlier than Boeing said he could ...so no medical pension...also died on the day social security was to send out the medical benefits so they canceled the check
I could understand if I was working but I wasn''t .... I was lucky I had some money left of my husband death money insurance that the contractor thief didn''t steal but now I will be left with no buffer for emergencies..
it could be worse ....but it didn''t have to be this difficult.... I hope I don''t loose my home in the future....

[farmlady999]

doesn''t surprise me...
our government doesn''t care about our windowed citizens
when my husband died I was 55 yrs old and had not worked outside the home/farm during our marriage ....but I am still waiting until I am 60 to get my widows benefits.... I also don''t drive and live on a rural farm... so getting a job at 55 would be imposable....
my husband was a union man and worked very hard for over 30 yrs at the same company....but died 2 weeks earlier than Boeing said he could ...so no medical pension...also died on the day social security was to send out the medical benefits so they canceled the check
I could understand if I was working but I wasn''t .... I was lucky I had some money left of my husband death money insurance that the contractor thief didn''t steal but now I will be left with no buffer for emergencies..
it could be worse ....but it didn''t have to be this difficult.... I hope I don''t loose my home in the future....

[farmlady999]

doesn''t surprise me...
our government doesn''t care about our windowed citizens
when my husband died I was 55 yrs old and had not worked outside the home/farm during our marriage ....but I am still waiting until I am 60 to get my widows benefits.... I also don''t drive and live on a rural farm... so getting a job at 55 would be imposable....
my husband was a union man and worked very hard for over 30 yrs at the same company..
I could understand if I was working but I wasn''t .... I was lucky I had some money left of my husband death money insurance that the contractor thief didn''t steal but now I will be left with no buffer for emergencies..
it could be worse ....but it didn''t have to be this difficult.... I hope I don''t loose my home in the future....

[farmlady999]

doesn''t surprise me...
our government doesn''t care about our windowed citizens
when my husband died I was 55 yrs old and had not worked outside the home/farm during our marriage ....but I am still waiting until I am 60 to get my widows benefits.... I also don''t drive and live on a rural farm... so getting a job at 55 would be imposable....
my husband was a union man and worked very hard..
I could understand if I was working but I wasn''t .... I was lucky I had some money left of my husband death money insurance that the contractor thief didn''t steal but now I will be left with no buffer for emergencies..
it could be worse ....but it didn''t have to be this difficult.... I hope I don''t loose my home in the future....

[micheledov]

ChicagoMom%u2019s (CMom) gotta be a Republican, so typically obsessed with controlling the private lives of others. "Let''s eliminate those pesky personal liberties and freedoms!" the Republicans cry.

In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that marriage [essentially to whomever you like] is one of the "basic civil rights."

As long as we send large numbers of US Citizens overseas on military missions and doing the bidding of multinational corporations, there will be many foreign spouses. Perhaps CMom should consider working for peace.

Regarding CMom%u2019s comments on safety, Richard Jackson wrote: %u201CThose who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.%u201D

The terror connection CMom tries to make is ludicrous. Real terrorist can buy or make fake documents and / or come here on the visa waiver program that permits people from many countries to come here, presumably for tourism, without any visa whatsoever. They don%u2019t need to marry anyone to get in. Incredible!

If you want to paint all the spouses with the same terrorist brush, is it then okay if the rest of the world paints you and all of the US with the same %u201Cterrorist%u201D and %u201Cthreat%u201D brushes citing examples such as Timothy McVeigh & Jim Jones? No, you would object to that characterization.

[micheledov]

While this has little to do with the widows, other than addressing a general bias against brown people who some think might be immigrants;

Thanks to Schoenberg12 for pointing out most of the territory mentioned used to be part of Mexico.

I was going to ask people how they thought US states got named in SPANISH (Colorado, Nevada, California,...)!

Many of the brown people they are afraid are illegals are not illegals.

In fact, their families may have been in the area before any Anglo settlers arrived. And the many of native descent were at home here before any Europeans at all arrived.

If they are at the Home Depot looking for day laborer jobs, it is because they are willing to work hard and earn their money not because they want a hand-out.

Regarding the few who are illegal, a cheap labor pool only exists as long as there are conservative Republican employers willing to exploit it.

Seems we need to show some more kindness and charity towards our brothers and sisters of all colors.

[chicago_mom]

The security of our nation is more important than romance. Read this article:

Bombing suspect''s marriage may have been for green card
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=e394bd1a-a8e7-431f-9675-333b414bbcd9&k=15972

We need to encourage our U.S. citizens to marry U.S. citizens. Not foreigners. No matter how pretty or handsome they may look to us.

The 9/11 attack on America was committed by aliens. Aliens try many paths to gain entry to America.

The Department of Homeland Security is correct to pursue enforcement, even in such cases as in the 60 Minutes spot. They are responsible for the protection of the U.S.A. and our citizenry as a whole.

Such unfortunate situations as these widows and widowers may have found themselves, could have been avoided if their alleged spouses had chosen to marry U.S. citizens, instead.

Remember Mata Hari. Beauty can be deceiving!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari

[alm7399]

I find your comment incredibly offensive and ignorant...since when can anyone choose who they fall in love with. I am Canadian and came to the US to complete a graduate degree. I had full intentions of finishing my degree and moving back "home", however I met and fell in love with my husband. While he may find me beautiful, there is much more to our relationship than looks. Neither of us wanted to spend thousands of dollars, or hours of our time filling out paperwork and jumping through hoops, but we did because that is the process, as flawed as it is. If you want to protect your country, INS needs to change it's process--our interview to prove our relationship was legitimate lasted less than 5 minutes before I was granted residency. This is the same interview that these women were waiting for.

[micheledov]

In response to whatinthewld''s advice to the widows to find another mate.

The very sad point is that, in the midst of their grief, if these widows were to remarry (another US citizen), they%u2019d probably be okay in the eyes of the INS. This is how desperate people are forced to do desperate things and how bad laws make good people into criminals.

People should not be forced into the choices you suggest by bad enforcement and failure to accept court rulings.

[whatinthewld]

The idea is.....ladies.........find a man who you can satisfy, and you can stay on

[whatinthewld]

It must be Obama''s fault...........

[whatinthewld]

It was good while it lasted ladies.........for better or for worse.........

[whatinthewld]

their task in america is done - good bye ladies

[phowarth1]

Now, You wonder why people sneak into this country illegaly. Look what happens when they go the legal route. Sad.

[wardpeterson]

Where is this country going that these widows are not
being given citizenship! Their mates have died in the war zone or from health reasons and we are wanting them to return to their former countries!!!
America was formed on diverse people coming here and
becoming citizens. Where is your mercy-where is your christianity Bush administration??? Shame on you!!

[micheledov]

I find it curious that many of those who reject immigrants would call themselves Christians. If anyone deserves Christian compassion, it is these women who have lost their husbands and are now threatened with the loss of their adopted homeland and having their families torn apart. And Jesus commanded %u201CYou shall love your neighbor as yourself%u201D (Matthew 22:35-40). These women are our neighbors.

Mexico is our neighbor too. If we are compassionate with our neighbor and help them build a paradise there, then we won%u2019t have anyone coming to the US from Mexico, legally or illegally.

[schoenberg12]

B. Obama stands a chance of being the greatest president you people have ever had. A much needed voice of reason and thoughtfulness in an otherwise intellectually and morally bankrupt empire. Hope a few racist rednecks don''t ruin what could be your chance for redemption. Cheers and good luck to the Greatest Country in the World (registered trademark)