U.S. Residency Sought For 9/11 Illegal Alien Relatives

A New York congresswoman has for the third time introduced legislation to grant special U.S. residency to more than a dozen illegal immigrants whose undocumented relatives were killed in the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. 

Democrat Carolyn Maloney, who has represented New York’s 14th district in the U.S. House since 1992, wants Congress to pass a law that will grant permanent U.S. residency to the illegal aliens spouses and children of workers—also illegal immigrants—killed in the 9/11 attacks. The measure has twice been introduced by Maloney and defeated in the House. 

But the veteran lawmaker is determined to get the bill passed this congressional session and assures it’s quickly gaining bipartisan support. The 14 illegal immigrants who would get green cards were married or are the foreign-born kids of undocumented employees at the World Trade Center’s restaurant, Windows on the World.  

All of the illegal immigrants have received hefty payments—ranging from $875,000 to $4.1 million—from the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund but live in fear of being deported, according to a sob story published in the local newspaper this week. The piece further points out that, because the illegal aliens don’t have proper identification, they can’t get a driver’s licenses, jobs or a place at school. 

Another huge inconvenience presented by living in the U.S. illegally is that the undocumented immigrants can’t travel to their home countries because they won’t be able to return to their adopted nation. All 14 have in the past been granted a temporary immigrants’ parole that expired and made them deportable. 

Some lawmakers are logically concerned about passing a special law for a particular group of people who have violated U.S. statutes. An Iowa congressman asks: “Why should these families be treated any different than the families of illegal immigrants who die in accidents or by natural causes while in the United States?”