Comments on: Immigrant Widows Left In Limbo

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

[harbinger09]

This year my granmother tried to get a passport at the passport office in Boston Ma. and she was told she couldn''''t because she wasn''''t a citizen. We went back to the passport office with her and they refused to help her. She cannot get a passport!! This is insane! Please help us help her! [e-mail]

Posted by staymad at 08:00 PM : Nov 23, 2008


Here''s some advice--stop now--before grandma gets deported. Laws don''t have to make sense to be enforced. Whatever you do, don''t implicate your grandma or keep trying to do things to draw attention to the fact she supposedly does not have citizenship....unless you like courts, lawyers and gov. meddling.

[harbinger09]

Of course widows are spouses. Their significant others died while still in the state of matrimony. This is why widow''s mates are referred to as their deceased husbands and not as ex-husbands. Ex implies voluntary, court mandated separation. No widow refers to her deceased husband as an ex. He would be either her former husband or many refer to them in the present tense. Immigration is just splitting hairs--this is a slippery slope--next insurance agencies will start making similar idiotic arguments to keep from paying out death claims. Enough already!!!

[sjparmele]

I watched this story with great interest. I am a immigrant and can totally relate to these women. I am married to a military member and I am currently awaiting for my 10 year permanent residency card to be approve. I sent the paperwork in a timely manner 3 months prior to the expiration of my 2 year permanent residency card. This was in July 2007, I am still waiting for it to be processed. I had to drive 4 hours to a immigration office for a extension. When I call the USCIS they are not helpful at all. While at the immigration office I inquired as to the requirements to becoming a US Citizen. I am eligible, but they are currently 12-15 months behind in processing. My husband deploys next year and even though the paperwork has been submitted I live in terror of what could happen to me and my children if anything happens to him. Stop spending all your money on illegal immigrants and help those of us who have paid thousands to be here and who have submitted the proper paperwork.

[pensacola98]

It is cruel to throw a widow out of the country.

What does that say about the widows from this country? Are they drains to society? Are they second class citizens? Are their children inferior?

Where are the family values? I just can''t believe the USA would ever possess the capacity to ever consider this!! Other countries don''t throw out US citizens living there upon death of a spouse.

[excoachken]

Along with so much else, the Cowardly Cowboy seems to have destroyed what COMMON SENSE the Department of Immigration had, before he became King.

[wallyj16]

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION CANNIBALIZES U.S. CITIZENS IN FAVOR OF ITS DOGMA.
THE ONLY SAFE WAY TO ENTER THIS COUNTRY IS ILLEGALLY!


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Posted by glenn_lewis at 08:17 AM : Nov 24, 2008

My sentiments exactly! Thank you.

[glenn_lewis]

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION CANNIBALIZES U.S. CITIZENS IN FAVOR OF ITS DOGMA.
THE ONLY SAFE WAY TO ENTER THIS COUNTRY IS ILLEGALLY!

[wallyj16]

Come on, no mother is going to go back to Brazil without her son. That phrase: ''''You can go. He can stay.'''' is not really accurate, because he/the kid cannot stay because he doesn''''t have a source of income, nor a job, nor a home, etc. Of course he must return home to Brasil with his mom, and of which he is a Brasilian citizen. Are we going to breakup a family?

It happens all the time with families risking it all to prevent their own starvation and oppression where they live. Google the Hutto Detention Henter to see what happens to innocent families. This is our dirty little secret not unlike slavery and the detention of Japanese/Americans during WWII.

http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/

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Posted by kerthialfad at 01:46 AM : Nov 24, 2008

[slim1h2o]

Immigration is flat wrong on this story.

[ybotheratall]

If they would spend one quarter of the time they are spending on this getting illegal aliens out of this country, there would be progress. These people came here LEGALLY and you are doing this to them? For what purpose? To placate your immature power struggle?

We should be taking time to get rid of the criminals who are here illegally and driving without licenses, paying no taxes and living off the system designed to help Americans. This IS America the last time I checked, although it seems that year by year, I recognize it less and less.

[perk235]

If widows and widowers are not surviving spouses, then last wills that bequeath to spouses would not work.

What a strange argument they are making.

[waltky1]

Why on earth is Immigration going after someone who is law-abiding and here for the right reasons but yet reluctant to go after the law breaking MS-13 drug dealers? This just goes to prove how screwed up Immigration''s priorities are. While they waste time persecuting someone who has immigrated here for the right reasons, they also waste precious time in not going after the ones who immigrate here just to expand their drug networks.

Just try getting Immigration, the FBI, or the DEA to go after MS-13 cocaine drug dealers in your community. Lots of luck. I have tried and all they do is pass the buck to local law enforcement. Then when the locals do a drug raid, do you think Immigration, the FBI or DEA wants to get involved and deport them? No way.

Here in the Louisville area, Immigration, the FBI and DEA are more interested in seeing how much work they can get out of rather than seeing what they can do to clean up the community. It is very frustrating to go to the trouble to collect license plate numbers of drive-by drug trafficking only to be told they aren''t interested.

They should leave the grieving widows alone and concentrate their efforts to go after the arrogant, violent drug dealers. Then and only then will they have earned their gov''t. paychecks.

[waltky1]

This just goes to prove how screwed up Immigration''s priorities are. While they waste time persecuting someone who has immigrated here for the right reasons, they also waste precious time in not going after the ones who immigrate here just to expand their drug networks.

Just try getting Immigration, the FBI, or the DEA to go after MS-13 cocaine drug dealers in your community. Lots of luck. I have tried and all they do is pass the buck to local law enforcement. Then when the locals do a drug raid, do you think Immigration, the FBI or DEA wants to get involved and deport them? No way.

Here in the Louisville area, Immigration, the FBI and DEA are more interested in seeing how much work they can get out of rather than seeing what they can do to clean up the community. It is very frustrating to go to the trouble to collect license plate numbers of drive-by drug trafficking only to be told they aren''t interested.

They should leave the grieving widows alone and concentrate their efforts to go after the arrogant, violent drug dealers. Then and only then will they have earned their gov''t. paychecks.

[kerthialfad]

"And they said, ''You''re gonna have to go back to Brazil.'' And I said, ''I have my son. You know? This is my son. He''s American citizen.'' And they said that, ''You can go. He can stay.''"

Ian was five months old at the time.....

Come on, no mother is going to go back to Brazil without her son. That phrase: ''You can go. He can stay.'' is not really accurate, because he/the kid cannot stay because he doesn''t have a source of income, nor a job, nor a home, etc. Of course he must return home to Brasil with his mom, and of which he is a Brasilian citizen. Are we going to breakup a family?

[dsa1033]

While I can empathize with the widow somewhat, esp. since she ahd had a child by her American citizen spouse, perhaps they should provide a time frame underwhich she either completes her applications for citizenship or faces depoertatin. Of course we have 18-20 MILLION undocumented illegal aliens who are not being confronted with deportation . . . so something isn''t exactly "balanced" in all of this. Being in south Florida, I am personally aware of numerous "arranged marriages" (for a fee) that are quite common for foreignors to gain entry into the USA. This practice is much more widespread than many Americans would believe. They maintain the facade of living together; but have separate lives. Once the foreigner gains their citizenship, they conveniently divorce . . . this is a routine occurrence in south Florida.

[rudy6543]

threaten the customs and idealologies established almost 250 years ago, and generally threaten the well being of this country on all fronts.
************

Certainly not in the Southwestern part of this nation. NOT 250 YEARS AGO!

[perquiaga-2009]

To justingarr,

52% is not the 100% it should have been. This is another example of the moral degragation that will distroy our society and country.

[rudy6543]

As to all of you using this story to continue your immigrant bashing, all I have to say is thank gawd you have been and will continue to be in the minority. I discovered a long time ago that racists make a big noise, but their numbers are few.

[kerthialfad]

It would be much more comfortable if the spouse had established his/her immigration status on his/her own, so that it never becomes an issue. Foreign brides and grooms have to be very astute as to what their rights and responsibilities are according to the US law. Many people enter marriage without doing their homework, and suffer enormously for it. Marriage is not something to be taken lightly, or jumped into quickly. Know your partner at least 5 years before taking the plunge.

[kerthialfad]

I am curious about the reverse situation involving a country other than the US. Since we have the most liberal immigration laws in the world, as evidenced by the numbers (by far the highest in the world), one can only assume the situation of a widowed alien spouse would be much worse in a country other than the US. Has the 60Minutes team done the research?

Another comment - how high is the instance of marriage fraud in the US? I would think it would be very high. Above 50%. In which case it behooves us to have strict laws and procedures in this area - to protect American Citizen from fraud.