Congress passes green-card bill for spouses of deceased U.S. citizens

[snake in the grass]

Source: LA Times

Congress passed a bill Tuesday that would make widows and widowers of U.S. citizens eligible for green cards even if their spouses died before their applications were approved.

The measure, part of the more than $40-billion Homeland Security appropriations bill, ends the "widow penalty," which required couples to be married for two years before the surviving spouse would be eligible to apply for residency. Now, surviving spouses can apply for a green card for themselves and their children regardless of when the U.S. citizen died or how long they were married.

There are believed to be a few hundred cases affected nationwide, including that of Dahianna Heard, whose husband was fatally shot while working for a private security contractor in Iraq; Raquel Williams, whose husband died of sleep apnea and heart problems; and Ana Maria Moncayo-Gigax, whose husband was killed in a car crash while on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol. Many are fighting deportation, and others have already been deported.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-widows21-2009oct21,0,5302831.story

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This is a wonderful victory and I'm happy for all those, who were affected by this heartless practice. Many thanks to Congressman Jim
McGovern (D-MA), and Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Robert
Menendez (D-NJ) for their leadership in this matter.

Here is the http://ssad.org/images/Press_Release_End_of_Widow_Penalty.pdf">press release from the http://ssad.org/legislation.html">Surviving Spouses Against Deportation website.

It is expected that President Obama will sign this bill into law by the end of the month.

[David Zephyr]

1. Good!

!

[tomm2thumbs]

2. paranoid republicans will say it's motivation to marry/kill Americans to get a green card

just watch...

[snake in the grass]

3. My friend, who was one of the plaintiffs, was...

...accused of just that. Her mother-in-law and some of her deceased husband's friends made that claim, along with the typical European whore-slur. Incidentally, the mother-in-law voted for * both times.

[snake in the grass]

4. I forgot to mention...

...the most important person in this story, that being Brent Renison, the lawyer, whose tireless efforts were key in making the Widow Penalty known.

Many, many thanks to you, Brent.

[Vidar]

5. Glad to hear it.