Immigrant widows who were denied legal residency because their U.S. spouses died before they got their green card scored a small victory against the Department of the Homeland Security.
On Monday, a federal court allowed their lawsuit against Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to move forward.
The case of Hootkins v. Chertoff challenges the agency’s practice of automatically denying spousal status to the husbands and wives of U.S. citizens when the spouse dies during the processing of a green card application.
The practice–called the “widow’s penalty”–c alls for the green card to be automatically rejected once the American spouse dies, according to U.S. immigration Law.
The widows’ attorney Brent Renison says a few of the plaintiffs are from Orange County but wouldn’t say whom because he said they’re fearful of getting deported.
There are more than 150 of these cases nationwide and some of these widows are already facing deportation hearings.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California allowed the class action suit to include all illegal immigrant husbands and wives whose U.S. citizen spouses died before the couples’ two-year anniversary after meeting a couple of requirements.
The court ordered that the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit be able to represent anyone who has a similar case in the Ninth Circuit. The court, however, has not yet ruled on the legality of the Citizenship and Immigration Services procedures.
Also, the court only approved those cases that were filed within the Ninth Circuit. This includes: Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Northern Marianas Islands, Oregon, and Washington.
It seems as though everyone else is pretty much out of luck.
Citizenship and Immigration Services has 10 days from the order to appeal the court’s decision. It’s unclear whether they will.
For more information about the widows’ go to: www.ssad.org
– Cindy Carcamo
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