Alien 9/11 Survivors Seek U.S. Stay
STEVE STRUNSKY
Associated Press
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- At age 9, Ankush Agarwal is the man of the house.
Ankush, who is from New Delhi, India, has been looking after his mother as best he can since his father, Alok Agarwal, was killed in the World Trade Center attack.
``I feel like I have to take care of my mom,'' he said. ``When she's sad, like when she cries, I make her feel better. And when I cry, she makes me feel better.''
Mother and son are among about 100 cases of World Trade Center attack survivors whose residency in the United States is in question because their visas were dependent on the work visas of their loved ones.
A provision in the USA Patriot Act, a federal law approved in October, extends the legal residency of attack survivors through Sept. 10, or until their dead family member's visa expires, whichever comes later.
But the new law, which also broadens the government's powers to investigate the attack, is of limited use to survivors wishing to remain in the United States permanently.
And it doesn't help those seeking certain privileges, like permission to work or travel outside of the United States without applying for a new visa.
``Our visas were attached to their visas,'' said Sonia Gawas, a 26-year-old trade center widow from Bombay, India.
Ankush and his mother have been living with Gawas in this New York City suburb since June. Gawas' husband, Ganesh Ladkat, died in the attack. He was a colleague of Ankush's father, a programmer at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Returning to India is out of the question for the two widows, who keep pictures of their husbands in their phetas, or marriage turbans, on a corner table in their apartment. Widows are shunned in India, and in Gawas's case, her husband's parents do not even accept that their son is dead.
``They tell me, `Don't come here, because if Ganesh calls, you won't be home to answer,''' she said.
Gawas could not envision remarrying, even as a means of winning permanent residency. She has gotten by with her husband's life insurance and support from groups like the Red Cross. But instead of gainful employment, her days are filled with grief and anxiety.
``I don't want to be a burden on society,'' she said.
A bill that would allow survivors to apply to the attorney general for citizenship was introduced in the Senate on Dec. 5 by Sen. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey.
But the bill has languished in the Senate Judiciary Committee. And with Congress set to break for recess this Friday until Sept. 3, time is running out for passage of the bill before Sept. 10.
At that point, the legal status of at least some survivors could lapse, leaving them vulnerable to deportation, said Freddi Weintraub, a lawyer helping survivors of 20 foreigners employed by Cantor Fitzgerald who were killed on Sept. 11.
Corzine said Monday the bill was stalled behind other issues, such as corporate accounting reform. ``I haven't been able to get the enthusiasm on it that I would like,'' he said.
In the meantime, Corzine said he was trying to produce an interim measure before Sept. 10 to extend the Patriot Act provision for a year. He was also open to a compromise measure offering permanent residency rather than citizenship, which survivors' advocates said would be more readily acceptable to lawmakers made especially cautious on immigration matters in the wake of the attacks.
The uncertainty is just one more torment for the survivors.
Ankush's mother, Shifali Agarwal, 30, said she received rough treatment from immigration officials upon re-entering the United States from a trip to India in February.
On Thursday, a British widow, Deena Gilbey, was granted permanent residency after publicly accusing the Immigration and Naturalization Service of threatening to deport her, a charge the agency denied. Gilbey's case differed from many survivors' in that she had already applied for her own green card before her husband was killed in the attack.
INS spokesman Bill Grassburger insisted the agency is sensitive to trade center survivors and will use discretion in dealing with anyone whose legal status does lapse.
``These were the first victims in the war on terrorism,'' he said.
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