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October 10, 2001 Families of Victims of Terrorist Attacks Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) Commissioner James W. Ziglar announced today that families of
victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
whose immigrant or non-immigrant status was dependent on the victim’s status
should not be concerned about facing immediate removal from the United States. The Commissioner noted, “The INS will
exercise its discretion in a compassionate way toward families of victims
during this time of mourning and readjustment.
On September 19, we began to advise our offices to exercise
compassionate discretion in these circumstances.” The Commissioner expressed concern about a
recent report of a British woman fearing removal due to the loss of her husband
in the World Trade Center
attack. The Commissioner noted that the
woman was told at a September 27 meeting with INS officials in Newark, New
Jersey that she was not facing removal and was offered deferred action, which
would allow her to remain in the United States and to receive work
authorization. The Commissioner emphasized that the
facts of this case created an unfortunate timing situation. The woman’s husband was in the United States
on an HI-B non-immigrant work visa that expired in August based on the six-year
statutory limitation for such visas.
Her husband applied for an “0” non-immigrant visa in late July
2001. On September 13, 2001, the
Vermont INS Service Center mailed a routine letter to her husband’s attorney
requesting information regarding the husband’s eligibility for an “0”
visa. The Service Center was unaware
that the applicant was missing in the World Trade Center attack. However, when INS was made aware of her
situation, it immediately exercised its discretion and granted deferred action for
humanitarian reasons. On Friday, October 5, 2001, the
Commissioner visited New York to reiterate his call for undocumented aliens and
employers who have lost friends, family members or employees in the terrorist
attacks to contact local authorities to assist in identifying victims and the
missing without fear of INS seeking such information. The Commissioner noted during a press conference in New York that
INS is developing a policy for the handling of immigration cases that may have
been affected by the September 11 attack. - INS - |
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