Immigrant Widows Left In Limbo

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

(CBS)  But attorney Brent Renison says the government could accept all the court decisions instead of appealing them. Renison is working pro bono for many of the widows. He's filed a class action suit to force Immigration to simply examine each marriage to determine whether it was legitimate. That is, instead of automatically turning all of them down. He says making sure the marriage was bona fide would cost the government a lot less than to keep fighting in various courts.

"All we're asking for is a bit of common sense. We need someone to tell the agency to stop this madness or Congress to enact some laws that provide for this," Renison says.

Bills are pending in the House and Senate to direct immigration to change its policy. That can't happen soon enough for Diana Engstrom. Her husband Todd was killed in Iraq. They'd met in her native Kosovo, fallen in love, and gotten married near Todd's home in Illinois. Then he signed up with a private contractor to train Iraqi soldiers.

Asked why Todd went to Iraq, Diana says, "He told me he wanted to serve his country. It was his duty to do that."

Then one day, the truck Todd was riding in was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Todd's father Ron got the first call, explaining how his son had died. "A rocket propeller grenade hit basically where Todd was sitting. Todd was killed instantly. It's the kind of call that no parent should have to receive," he remembers.

And soon after that, Ron heard that Immigration wanted Diana to leave the country. His reaction? "Disbelief. We had buried our son. Was in the shock of that. We were just in shock again."

"I don't think that any other country would treat a widow like that. So, it's just unbelievable," Diana adds.

Immigration said Diana couldn't become a resident because she hadn't had her immigration interview with Todd, so she couldn't prove her marriage was bona fide. "There was no question that they were in love, that they were happy; that they were gonna build a future together. No question," her father-in-law Ron says.

Diana is part of Renison’s class action suit, so she hasn't been deported - yet. She and the other families feel the government has betrayed them, and worse, betrayed their dead husbands and sons.

"Cindy, what do you want our viewers to understand," Simon asks Todd's mother.

"That our son gave his life for this country," she says. "And our government should stand behind him and do what he would have wanted."

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Just last week, the new head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, suspended all action to deport these widows for two years. The administration supports legislation to make it clear that widows and widowers who didn't get their paperwork completed before their American spouse died, should still be allowed to remain in the U.S.

[estadia]

I would love to see a special on problems that people suffer for YEARS from the service centers in my case the California service center, what takes most people five to six months to get a notice of action two on we have been waiting for two years, only explanation, your case is in back ground checks, we are not old enough or experienced enough to have done anything that could be a threat to any country.

He is a doctor i am a full time student and citizen of the USA. at this point in time i am facing having to make the choice to leave my country and my family as well as my schooling to marry my fiance and live over seas.

there is no valid reason for all of this and many of us suffer, with out any way to resolve what ever the issue is because its done in secret you are told nobody can touch your case as long as its in back ground check.

it could be as simple as they are waiting for information from one of his employers about his time in saudi working as a doctor there, if thats the case that information will never come as saudi does not supply anything if your not a saudi national.

I have written to both presidents that have been in office while our case has been waiting, as well as senators, congressman, and anyone else that will listen.

It seems that congressmen and senators are willing to accept just about anything that the service centers give out, in our case its in back ground checks.

I guess my question is when does enough time pass that the service center decides what ever they are waiting for is not going to come, will i be 30 years old, 40, 50?

I asked them just yesterday how much longer can this take they said up to one year or more in reality indefinitely if they decide to wait for what ever it is that they are waiting for that they are never going to receive.

our system for legal immigration is broken, many families are torn apart or never get to even start as a family as a result to the problems that the immigration system has.

i have never done anything criminal neither has my fiance, our only crime is falling in love and wanting to spend our life together.

he would be a real addition our community as i live in a rural area, i have seen a lot people allowed to complete their visa journey that do not have the education and the ability to contribute to their community and be such an asset as my fiance has. so i have to ask why are we being held back? what possible issues could their possibly be?
Is it because we are Muslim? Or are we just an unlucky couple that got caught in a crack in the service center with no foreseeable way out?

[sbbones1]

Brought to you by the same folks who want to control health records and ration care.

[alm7399]

I thought this episode was very well done. As a permanent resident that has recently gone through the process, I know all too well the ridiculous things that are asked and done, including delays and lost paperwork. Most people don't realize the amount of time, difficulty and expense that goes into the process. I certainly understand the need to complete a process but the process is broken. The only thing that stood between these women receiving their green card and being deported was their interview. They had already filed their paperwork, sent in their supporting documents and paid their fees. The interview that my husband and I drove 4 hours one way to attend, lasted no more than 5 minutes. Plenty of time to prove our relationship was legitimate...It is appalling that these women are being denied. INS forms state explicitly that widows, the abused and divorced applicants are still eligible. Perhaps the INS officials need to review their own rules and regulations.

[imara143]

What is an illegal alien? This is such a joke... come to Fairview New Jersey 07022, walk down Anderson Ave. They are all over the place. Their kids are in school, they get free lunch, free breakfast. You're not allowed to ask if they are legal. They work ( yes very cheaply), however they DO NOT PAY TAXES. They rent an apartment and 15 people move in. If they are hurt on the job they go to the hospital get the best care, and WE (the people who pay taxes) pay for that too. Then these poor women are given such a hard time.,.....l. GOOD HEAVENS somebody wake up the INS..... and they should do their jobs.

[vielmann]

Our US immigration department is one of the worst departments in the world. They have inconsistent policies and they willy nilly just pick and choose what things they will do. I have never seen anything like it. Furthermore, the system is so screwed up that it was the same system that allowed several people already on a known terrorist watch list to enter the country and do the 9/11 attacks, while having royal fits and denying entry to people they suspect will work in onion fields. Go figure.

[dartplayer501]

Why should these women pay for the ineptness of our beloved INS. At least with the new administrations they've been given time to do the interviews that they were denied by the former's policies.

[casionova]

There is a path to becoming a citizen of the US.
If people choose to ignore their requirements then they do not deserve to be US citizens.
Americans cannot ignore the IRS and expect to not be punished.
Why do some immigrants think they are exempt from laws and regulations?
They are not.
Posted by zonkzilla

They didnt ignore their requirements, they complied with them and they dont think they are exempt, if you read the article that would be perfectly clear.

[zonkzilla]

There is a path to becoming a citizen of the US.
If people choose to ignore their requirements then they do not deserve to be US citizens.
Americans cannot ignore the IRS and expect to not be punished.
Why do some immigrants think they are exempt from laws and regulations?
They are not.

[casionova]

I have not sympathy with illegal aliens ....be they men....or woman (widow or wideower).
These people knew what was going on before or during the process of filling out the paperwork.
By making an exception for one, we will make the flood gates open for anyone to enter. Natural born citizens are being penalized paying benefits for illegals while natural born citizens have problems finding work as US citizens.
To the in-laws of these widows....I say...if they feel so sorry for their daughter in'laws let them go back to the daughter-in-law's country and help her out, Let's see them give up the rich lifestyle they have in this country to help out....You won't see them do that !!!
Posted by bzcybergal

You seem to have missed the point that they were not illegals, they legally entered the country and married US citizens.

Also, Germany, Brazil and Kosovo are not third world countries. Living standards in Germany may even be higher than in the USA, so they were not fleeing famine and catastrophe.

[tooitu]

All that would be necessary to confirm the idiocy of the current system is the thirty seconds that you presented of Michael Chertoff's comments. If there is a better living example of the failure of the Peter Principle to weed out incompetence and mismanagement in government, I have never seen it. This man should be allowed nowhere near any organization that wishes to serve the public.

[txgirl09]

The part about the immigration putting off applicanta has now happened to my daughter and her Canadian husband. It happened first when they were to be married and he wanted to apply for a visa to eventually apply for citizenship. They filed all the papers and then put off again & again, month after month. They decided to go ahead and get married and now live near Toronto. They have reapplied as a married couple, all of the papers are in and they are still waiting for an interview with the American consulate in Toronto.
He is a customs agent in Canada and therefore has all kinds of security checks, etc. We really don't understand what the hold up and why this is happening again. Thanks again for the story. Why do they have no one to answer to when they put people off month after month?

[bzcybergal]

I have not sympathy with illegal aliens ....be they men....or woman (widow or wideower).
These people knew what was going on before or during the process of filling out the paperwork.
By making an exception for one, we will make the flood gates open for anyone to enter. Natural born citizens are being penalized paying benefits for illegals while natural born citizens have problems finding work as US citizens.
To the in-laws of these widows....I say...if they feel so sorry for their daughter in'laws let them go back to the daughter-in-law's country and help her out, Let's see them give up the rich lifestyle they have in this country to help out....You won't see them do that !!!

[owlwomanxxxx]

farmlady...you should have learned to be more self reliant years ago....the dream of hitching to a guy and having security for the rest of your life is long gone by the wayside....if it ever was there.....I am sorry you are in this mess...but it seems to me that you need to move to an area where you can get a job and get on with your life....I am an immigrant married two American men and still take care of myself ; by the way...I am 67 years old

[perquiaga-2009]

To: rudy6543

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

My ignorance appearently causes me to no see the meaning of this point! The The U.S. was formed with an idealogy! The acceptance of this idealogy is part of a state becoming a state.

The Southwest, where I spent the 1st 50 yrs of my life, is where I left because the people who lost it are covertly trying to take it back. Call me a racist if you please. But I simply view my attitude as wanting the WASP idealogies returned to us.

I DO NOT sympathize with the illegals, I sympathize with the millions of legal citizens who find it hard to get work at a competitive wage when illegals are competing for the same work for pennies.

If you are a hard working white person in Southern California, you may know what I''m talking about. If you are not - then what experience do you have to discuss this issue.


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Posted by rudy6543

[rtw12345]

I feel the government is being unfair especially to the children of the deceased parent, the widows and the widowers. My sister and brother-in-law fell in love and had a child and decided to get married. Approximately 1-1/2 years later my sister suddenly died. Now the gov''t is wanting to send my brother-in-law back to Haiti because he did not have his immigration interview. And his son can stay here. Something has got to be done about this - these children are innocent and Americans. Seperating the child from the only parent they know is ludacris!!!!!! We need help for this country and our childrens future.

[kerthialfad]

I agree with Chicago_Mom. We should marry our own. These are the people with whom we are comfortable; share the same history; have an education which qualifies them to work in the US.

I you decide to hitch up with someone exotic, there are so many hardships trying to bridge the gaps in language, culture... there are so many misunderstandings.

Other people in the world know this.

[alm7399]

I find your comment incredibly offensive and ignorant...since when can anyone choose who they fall in love with. I am Canadian (hardly exotic)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.

[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....