A horribly inhumane travesty of justice...

[snake in the grass]

...will be the subject of tonight's 60 Minutes and it is called the "widow's penalty". What it basically comes down to is, if a U.S. citizen marries a foreign national and dies before the bureaucratic process is completed, that spouse will unceremoniously be forced to leave the country under threat of deportation. At the moment, roughly 140 people are affected by this. One of them is a very good friend of mine.

Three months after marrying her dream man and one month before the final interview with immigration, she watched her husband die of a heart attack, and since then she has had no control over her life. She cannot leave the U.S. without being penalized for overstaying her visa (remember she got married legally in the U.S.) and she can't work here because her work permit is still pending, along with a class action suit to end this practice. The DHS argues that as these people are widowed, they are technically no longer spouses and have no right to be here. This cynicism makes me ill.

After 22 years in Germany, I decided to change my profession and move back to Florida to be closer to my family. My father is very ill and we are all not getting any younger. Through this turn of events, however, I am now living in Los Angeles to help my friend fight this injustice. Because her husband died intestate and she is not a legal citizen, his family is administering the probate. I can't begin to describe the cruelty and vindictive pettiness these people have inflicted upon her. I once believed such things were simply caricatures of evil greed found only in cinema. I know better now as they are very real. His family has offered no support, neither materially nor emotionally, since his death and they seek to be rid of her as quickly as possible in order to sell the house and the belongings. They even wanted to kill the dogs at one point! For them it is all about the money. Her only support comes currently from myself and her mother, who still lives in Munich, Germany. I am determined to stick this out with her until it is resolved because she is a very special and talented person who in no way deserves this treatment. She has often said the U.S. treats love like a crime (recently again to Prop 8). I want to prove her wrong.

Here is where you come in my fellow brothers and sisters at DU. If you feel as strongly about this issue as I, please visit the site "Surviving Spouses Against Deportation" - http://ssad.org/ and sign the petition to get HR 6034 passed. You can also contact your representatives in both houses to get them involved. I put off bringing this up during the GE for fear that it would be lost in the turmoil, but now is the time to act.

Furthermore, I ask you to watch the 60 Minutes report. My friend was interviewed by Bob Simon a few months back and you will be able to see first hand what she is up against.

Thank you all for your support.

-Snake

UPDATE: Here is the link to the video for those on the east coast who missed 60 Minutes because I neglected to consider the time difference:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4628657n

Please recommend this post and thanks again!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. It is horrible.

It is not the fault of the foreign spouse that the U.S. citizen spouse died.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Oh how sad

I have 60 Minutes on my DVR and will watch it later tonight. Thanks for the personal insight.

[snake in the grass]

5. Thank you...

...for taking the time to read it. Every day here is stressful because we don't know what will happen. If enough of us get involved, maybe we can sway it to a good ending.

[magellan]

3. Done

As an American married to a Brit, this strikes close to home. I still remember the incredibly inhumane action taken against the 9-11 widow who happened to have been a foreigner. You'd think the government would have something more important to focus on than deporting the 140 widows who are currently trapped in this cruel and nonsensical red tape.

I wish your friend all the best and hope she's allowed to remain here.

[snake in the grass]

6. Thank you very much.

She will be happy to know there are people out there who do care about this.

[47of74]

4. And people should have their wills made out too

One of the first things people should do after saying I do is to get their wills made or altered.

[snake in the grass]

7. I certainly learned that from this story.

I guess he was just in such bliss that the thought of his possible death just wasn't present. The main issue here is that she has to deal with his loss every passing day. The probate is simply acid on the wound.

[trollybob]

8. Deportation of surviving spouses

Currently, there is no one at the top who cares about the
plight of these people (or anyone else, for that matter). 
Fortunately, a new president, who actually possesses
compassion and common sense will take office in January, at
which time I am quite certain he will issue an executive order
eliminating this asinine, idiotic bureaucratic process.

[rasputin1952]

9. Welcome to DU trollybob...

:hi:

[snake in the grass]

10. I thought that as well...

...and asked the attorney working this case, Brent Renison, if there is any hope that a new administration would act favorably in this matter. He was a bit doubtful for the sole reason that it is just not very well known. According to him, of the hundreds of bills that get introduced every year only a handful are actually debated and even fewer are passed. That is why it is important for me to get this information out there and make people aware of it. It can't simply be swept under the rug if we let our voices be heard.