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Congress Introduces Legislation
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| Click here to see if your Congressperson is listed as a cosponsor.
July 29, 2008 - Congressmen Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and Greg Walden (R-OR) join as co-sponsors! Fallen Police Officer David Lamoree's father lives in Congressman Walden's District, and widow Osserritta Robinson lives in Congressman Garrett's District.
July 16, 2008 - Full House Judiciary Committee APPROVES HR 6034! The bill will be amended to improve the transition language of the bill, so that it is clearer. Thankfully, the outlandish amendment sought by Congressman Steve King (R-IA) which would deny status to widows who lived abroad with their American spouses was not approved by the Committee. Notably, of the many Judiciary Committee members, no other member spoke out against the bill apart from Congressman King. Immigration Subcommittee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) gave a wonderful overview of the bill, and objected to the King amendment on a technical ground, which was successful in stopping the amendment. We are thankful that Congressmen Lamar Smith (R-TX), Dan Lungren (R-CA), and Ric Keller (R-FL) spoke out in favor of the bill in true bi-partisan fashion. Now, the bill should go to the full House of Representatives on the Suspension Calendar and be voted on. Senate action is still needed.
July 16, 2008 - Live Webcast of the House Judiciary Committee Hearing on HR 6034, a Bill to End the Widow Penalty. Watch the hearing live on Real Player.
July 15, 2008 - Congressman Ric Keller (R-FL) joins as cosponsor. See a video of a widow and her child who reside in Congressman Keller's district. Thank you, Congressman Keller!
July 14, 2008 - Full House Judiciary Committee to markup HR 6034 on Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Now that the Immigration Subcommittee has approved HR 6034, the full Judiciary Committee must review the bill. If the bill is approved, it could be sent to the full House of Representatives for a vote. A positive vote in the House will still require the Senate to introduce and pass legislation for the President to sign.
CONTACT THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO EDUCATE THEM
July 10, 2008 - House Immigration Subcommittee Approved HR 6034 by voice vote with only one opposing! Congress Now reports on the vote that moves the bill forward. Following this action, the bill now goes to the full House Judiciary Committee for consideration. Please review the list of members, and consider reaching out to them to explain the importance of HR 6034.
July 9, 2008 - Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) joins as a cosponsor of HR 6034. This cosponsorship is a key endorsement of this bi-partisan measure intended to halt the unintended practice of robbing grieving widows of their marital home. The Hon. Brian Bilbray is head of the Immigration Reform Caucus, a group formed to oppose illegal immigration.
July 9, 2008 - HR 6034 is being marked up in the House Judiciary Committee Thursday July 10! This is great news, and shows excellent progress! To read more about the Committee Markup Process, take a look at this CRS document on the Markup procedures.
June 18, 2008 - Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) join as cosponsors. Cosponsors now number 27!
June 12, 2008 - Cosponsor list grows to 25!
June 10, 2008 - Congressmen Jim McGovern and Mark Udall issue another letter, directed to other Congresspersons, urging support of H.R. 6034, a bill to end the widow penalty. The letter can be viewed to the right.
May 23, 2008 - Five Representatives sign on as cosponsors this week, bringing the total to 23 bill sponsors! Andre Carson (D-IN), Hilda L. Solis (D-CA), Jerry Weller (R-IL), and David Wu (D-OR) joined on May 20, 2008. Our latest cosponsor is Mike Honda (D-CA), Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and his website states, "Mike is widowed and has two grown children. His wife, Jeanne, was a teacher at Baldwin Elementary School in San Jose before her passing in 2004." The Hon. Congressman Honda obviously understands that one does not just lose status as a spouse when one outlives the other spouse. Thank you, Congressman Honda! | 
Dear Colleague Letter Urging Cosponsorship of HR 6034 |
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April 30, 2008 - GREAT NEWS! Draft Legislation Circulated by Champions McGovern and Udall!
Dear Colleague:
We are contacting your office because one of your constituents is affected by an unfortunate, unintended, and unjustified administrative procedure. As you may have seen in media reports, widows of American citizens who lawfully entered the country and applied for resident status are being denied if their American spouses die before administrative processing occurs. This practice is referred to as the “widow penalty.”
When an American applies for his or her spouse to be a resident, the application can be approved as quickly as processing times permit, but in some cases death occurs after filing but before USCIS gets to the application. If conditional resident applicants suffer bureaucratic delays or an unexpected death beyond their control, they are left to face denial and deportation simply because their application was not processed in time. Current law allows the conditional petitioner to self-petition only if the marriage lasts two years.
Our legislation addresses this unjustifiable practice by allowing for a case-by-case, bona fide assessment of the marriage if the death occurred prior to two years of marriage. In other words, if the citizen spouse does die before the marriage reaches two years, the conditional resident’s petition is still considered, but the marriage has to be found to be bona fide.
We believe that case-by-case consideration of these survivor’s cases, and not an automatic denial, would serve the interests of justice and the American people. These individuals legally entered the country, have applied for legal status following established procedures, and absent their spouse’s death, their applications would have been adjudicated and routinely approved.
We have attached a draft of the bill for your review. To join us in ending the “widow penalty” and protecting surviving spouses of American citizens, some of which are widows of fallen soldiers, please contact Jay Lucey in Rep. Jim McGovern’s office at 5-6101 or at jay.lucey@mail.house.gov. Deadline for Original Cosponsors is May 13, c.o.b.
Sincerely,
James P. McGovern Mark Udall
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Jay Lucey Senior Legislative Assistant U.S. Representative Jim McGovern 438 Cannon HOB 202-225-6101 202-225-5759 (f) www.mcgovern.house.gov |
McGovern-Udall Draft Bill to End the Widow Penalty |
September 4, 2007 - SSAD advocates the introduction of the Widows Amendment version to the right. The Widows Amendment would allow the lawfully filed applications of widows and widowers of American citizens to proceed following the death of the petitioning American spouse. It would cover widows of contractors killed in Iraq, as well as widows of active duty military killed in non-combat situations (such as a Humvee accident). SSAD is looking to Congress to end the widow penalty, and the Widows Amendment is the key. | 
Widows Amendment |
| June 28, 2007 - The Senate bill failed today to garner enough votes to proceed and was pulled from the floor. The reports show that the Senate Bill, and thus immigration reform, is dead for the foreseeable future. This is of course a very discouraging development, but we have hope that our provision can be introduced in some other vehicle during this Congress. We are only six months into a two-year Congress, the 110th Congress. Therefore, there is always a chance of reviving the Senate bill, and also a chance we can move other legislation through Congress on our very narrow issue. We will continue efforts until this unjust law is changed. |
June 25, 2007 - After the Senate revived the stalled immigration legislation by introducing the Kennedy Specter bill, S. 1639, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has continued to push for a widow amendment to fix the widow penalty. In order to garner broader support for the amendment, Senator Nelson submitted revised, shortened language. Unfortunately, as of this date, we at SSAD have been advised that the amendment is again stalled due to a "budget" point of order - apparently someone in the budget office believes this might cost someone money! Because only amendments without "issues" will be considered for inclusion in the bill, it appears we might lose the chance to have the amendment appear in the Senate Bill if it is considered later this week.
MORE ADVOCACY IS NEEDED TO ENSURE INCLUSION OF THE WIDOW AMENDMENT IN THE BILL. YOUR SENATORS ARE NOT HEARING YOUR VOICE, AND ARE GOING TO PROCEED WITHOUT THIS AMENDMENT IF YOU DO NOT MAKE THEM HEAR YOU! TELL THEM TO SUPPORT SENATOR BILL NELSON'S WIDOW AMENDMENT!
June 6, 2007 - Florida Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduces widow amendment to end the widow penalty!!! Surviving Spouses Against Deportation is pleased to announce that Senator Nelson from Florida has introduced an amendment to the Compehensive Immigration Reform Bill (S. 1348) in the Senate that would eliminate the widow penalty. The amendment is number 1381, and we urge Senators to adopt the amendment through unanimous consent. Thanks to the courage of Senator Bill Nelson and his staff, surviving spouses of United States citizens have hope that an end to the injustice is near! |
Senator Bill Nelson's Amendment 1381 |
| May 21, 2007 - A review of the draft bill, released on May 18th, shows that a partial fix to the widow penalty is included in the draft bill. The partial fix allows the filing of a self-petition within two years of the death of the qualifying relative, and includes those married less than two years. The fix does not provide, however, for surviving spouses whose U.S. citizen spouse died more than two years ago, nor does it provide a mechanism for continuing pending adjustment of status applications or immigrant visa applications. SSAD therefore endorses an amendment, similar to the one at the right, to ensure full coverage for all surviving spouse cases. |
Proposed Amendment to Grand Bargain Bill |
| May 17, 2007 - Although the Senate had re-introduced last year's bill (S. 1348 this year) on May 9, 2007, Senators instead brokered a back room deal to create a completely different immigration bill, which was announced today. The new bill, however, has a limited fix for the widow penalty. For reference, our requested language is in H.R. 1645, as noted below, but is also in S. 1348, Sec. 504 and Sec. 761. |
| April 26, 2007 - PRESS RELEASE: Surviving Spouses Urge End to Widow Penalty |
Press Release |
March 22, 2007 - BREAKING NEWS
Congressmen Gutierrez and Flake Unveil Bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation!
Congressmen Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ.) Thursday unveiled new legislation designed to fix our nation's badly broken immigration system. THE BILL INCLUDES A FIX TO THE WIDOW PENALTY!!! The bill is called the "Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007" ("STRIVE Act"), and has been given the House bill number H.R. 1645.
Please refer to the Summary, page 9, to see a reference to our provision. Please also refer to the Text of the bill, H.R. 1645, Section 516, pages 420-426.
When advocating on this issue, please urge Congress to support H.R. 1645, and especially the section for widows found at Section 516. We need this provision to survive intact all the way through to the President's signature.
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Summary of STRIVE Bill |
Text of H.R. 1645 |
History of the Legislation
In the Spring of 2006, bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate aimed at comprehensive immigration reform included a limited form of the "Widow Penalty" fix (pages 89-91). The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005 (Bill numbers: S. 1033, HR 2330) introduced by Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Kennedy (D-MA), and Congresspersons Kolbe (R-AZ), Flake (R-AZ) and Gutierrez (D-IL) in the 109th Congress moved through the Senate, and through a number of amendments the full version of the "widow penalty fix" authored by Brent Renison was passed by the Senate! Some key supporters of the bill were Senators Kyl (R-AZ), Kennedy (D-MA), Smith (R-OR) and Wyden (D-OR). It was a truly bi-partisan measure that enjoyed widespread support. Unfortunately, the House of Representatives blocked any immigration reform in 2006, effectively killing the Senate bill and ending hopes of fixing the widow penalty in 2006.
The 110th Congress began in January 2007 and will continue through the end of 2008. With the new Congress, a new pro-immigrant leadership has emerged. It is the hope of Surviving Spouses Against Deportation that the progress made in the Senate in the 109th Congress will carry forward into the 110th Congress. In order to move this issue forward, we need more to advocate and contact Congress! Urge our leaders to end the widow penalty!
Please consider making a call to the Washington, D.C. office of the Judiciary Committee members of the Senate and House. Yes, you can call and make a difference! Every call counts!
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United States Senate, Judiciary Committee
http://judiciary.senate.gov/
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(202) 224-4242
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(202) 224-4543 |
(202) 224-4254 |
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(202) 224-5042 |
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(202) 224-3841 |
(202) 224-4521 |
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(202) 224-5323 |
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(202) 224-6542 |
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(202) 224-2152 |
(202) 224-2934 |
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United States House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee
http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.aspx
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Democrat
(202) 225-5126 |
| Hon. Berman |
| (D) California, 28th |
| (202) 225-4695 |
| Hon. Boucher |
| (D) Virginia, 9th |
| (202) 225-3861 |
| Hon. Nadler |
| (D) New York, 8th |
| (202) 225-5635 |
| Hon. Scott |
| (D) Virginia, 3rd |
| (202) 225-8351 |
| Hon. Watt |
| (D) North Carolina, 12th |
| (202) 225-1510 |
| Hon. Lofgren |
| (D) California, 16th |
| (202) 225-3072 |
| Hon. Jackson Lee |
| (D) Texas, 18th |
| (202) 225-3816 |
| Hon. Waters |
| (D) California, 35th |
| (202) 225-2201 |
| Hon. Meehan |
| (D) Massachusetts, 5th |
| (202) 225-3411 |
| Hon. Delahunt |
| (D) Massachusetts, 10th |
| (202) 225-3111 |
| Hon. Wexler |
| (D) Florida, 19th |
| (202) 225-3001 |
| Hon. Sánchez |
| (D) California, 39th |
| (202) 225-6676 |
| Hon. Cohen |
| (D) Tennessee, 9th |
| (202) 225-3265 |
| Hon. Johnson |
| (D) Georgia, 4th |
| (202) 225-1605 |
| Hon. Gutierrez |
| (D) Illinois, 4th |
| (202) 225-8203 |
| Hon. Sherman |
| (D) California, 27 |
| (202) 225-5911 |
| Hon. Weiner |
| (D) New York, 9th |
| (202) 225-6616 |
| Hon. Schiff |
| (D) California, 29th |
| (202) 225-4176 |
| Hon. Davis |
| (D) Alabama , 7th |
| (202) 225-2665 |
| Hon. Wasserman Schultz |
| (D) Florida, 20th |
| (202) 225-7931 |
| Hon. Ellison |
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(D) Minnesota, 5th
(202) 225-4755 |
| Republican |
| Hon. Sensenbrenner Jr. |
| (R) Wisconsin, 5th |
| (202) 225-4236 |
| Hon. Coble |
| (R) North Carolina, 6th |
| (202) 225-5101 |
| Hon. Gallegly |
| (R) California, 24th |
| (202) 225-5811 |
| Hon. Goodlatte |
| (R) Virginia, 6th |
| (202) 225-5431 |
| Hon. Chabot |
| (R) Ohio, 1st |
| (202) 225-2216 |
| Hon. Lungren |
| (R) California, 3rd |
| (202) 225-5716 |
| Hon. Cannon |
| (R) Utah, 3rd |
| (202) 225-7751 |
| Hon. Keller |
| (R) Florida, 8th |
| (202) 225-2176 |
| Hon. Issa |
| (R) California, 49th |
| (202) 225-3906 |
| Hon. Pence |
| (R) Indiana, 6th |
| (202) 225-3021 |
| Hon. Forbes |
| (R) Virginia, 4th |
| (202) 225-6365 |
| Hon. King |
| (R) Iowa, 5th |
| (202) 225-4426 |
| Hon. Feeney |
| (R) Florida, 24th |
| (202) 225-2706 |
| Hon. Franks |
| (R) Arizona, 2nd |
| (202) 225-4576 |
| Hon. Gohmert |
| (R) Texas, 1st |
| (202) 225-3035 |
| Hon. Jordan |
| (R) Ohio, 4th |
| (202) 225-2676 | |
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| Jacqueline Coats with her late husband (see news links to read about her case). Jacqueline has the fortune of being the recipient of a pending private bill. |
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Every year, a handful of surviving spouses and family members are deported because their U.S. citizen relative dies. The ameliorative legislation proposed here is meant to give officers of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the discretion to grant Lawful Permanent Resident Status to surviving members of a deceased U.S. citizen or principal immigrant.
Anisha Foti was married to Seth Foti, a State Department Diplomatic Courier for two months when Seth's plane, Gulf Air 072, went down on August 23, 2000. While he was killed doing his job for our country, the law provided no status for his widow. President Bush signed private legislation, H.R. 2245, Private Law No. 107-5, making her a legal resident in 2002.
Diana Engstrom was married on December 29, 2003 to Todd Engstrom, a U.S. citizen working as a U.S. Army contractor in Iraq, helping the Army train Iraqi soldiers. In September 2004, Todd was killed when a rocket-propelled-grenade hit the convoy in which he was riding. He had asked Diana to raise his 12-year-old son, Dalton, if something were to happen to him. She is now facing deportation, though that action is temporarily stayed while private legislation introduced by Senators Obama and Durbin (S.1233/H.R. 2902) is pending.
Gladys Walsh was married to her husband Jeffery Walsh on January 20, 2001 in Columbia, where he was working. The couple's son was born on October 25, 2001 with severe bilateral club feet. Concerned with his son's medical treatment, Jeffery moved to the U.S. and started the petitioning process through the American Embassy for his wife and son to join him. Tragically, Jeffery died of a heart attack at the age of 38 on September 11, 2002. Mrs. Walsh was given a visitor visa to attend the funeral, but has no right to remain here with her son and her in-laws.
Maria Moncayo-Gigax, a citizen of Ecuador, was married to her husband John Gigax, a U.S Border Patrol Agent, on August 28, 1998. John was killed on the job while on detail in Washington, D.C. on November 7, 1999. The former INS had not yet acted on her application for Lawful Permanent Resident Status prior to his death. Facing deportation, she is currently protected by the introduction of private legislation, H.R. 1211, introduced March 9, 2005 by Representative Buck McKeon (R-CA).
Dahianna Heard, a citizen of Venezuela and Florida resident, was married to her husband, U.S. Army Veteran Jeffrey Heard in July 2004 after dating for a few years. They applied for Mrs. Heard's residency and waited. While the paperwork remained pending, the couple enjoyed the birth of their son, although Jeffrey had to return to Iraq to complete his work for a contractor supporting U.S. troops there. He was killed in March 2006, shot in the head by insurgents while delivering equipment to U.S. troops. Mrs. Heard, widow of a man who made the ultimate sacrifice to support U.S. troops, faces deportation. Jeffrey Heard's orphaned son (pictured in the Contribute Section of this website) would also be forced out if the mother is deported.
Khin Win lost her U.S. citizen husband, Donny Mauro, in February when a drunk driver killed him in Las Vegas, Nevada after 11 months of marriage. She came lawfully as a foreign student from Burma, and filed all the necessary applications to become a lawful permanent resident prior to her husband's death. Less than one month after her husband was killed, her application was denied. Then, in May, her father-in-law was killed by a drunk driver. Now, her mother-in-law faces losing her daughter-in-law, after losing her son and husband in the same year.
Jacqueline Coats, age 26, came from Kenya as a foreign student to study communications at San Jose State University in California. She met Marlin Coats in February 2004, and on April 17, 2006 they were married. Mr. Coats signed the paperwork to file for residency for his wife, but died four days later on Mother's day, May 14, 2006, while trying to rescue two boys who were drowning off San Francisco's Ocean Beach. Mr. Coats, 29, was a former lifeguard, but was caught in a riptide while helping to rescue the 11 and 14 year-old brothers who were struggling in the surf. Mrs. Coats now faces deportation. She is temporarily protected by the introduction of private legislation, S. 3809, introduced August 3, 2006 by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
These cases are representative of eighty (80) widows that we have identified all across the country. While it is unknown how many cases have occurred over the years, this proposed legislation potentially affects only a few hundred individuals. The proposal will, however, effect a positive impact on grieving families by giving discretion to USCIS officials to approve Lawful Permanent Resident Status where a death occurs.
Legislation has already been passed to assist widows of 9/11 victims and widows of soldiers on active duty killed in combat. Pending legislation would also extend benefits to widows of the Hurricane Katrina. Piecemeal legislation, however, has the potential for true inequity. The "widow penalty" should be laid to rest once and for all.
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| Jacqueline Coats |
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