The Widow Penalty

We almost never talk about RL on SCD, but today’s an exception. I read about this on Harper Baresford’s blog and wanted to share the information with you. Eshi Otawara is a forigner who married a US citizen. Her husband passed away and now she may be deported. He died while her application to become a citizen was still being processed. You can read more about it here.

Her lawyer, Brent Renison, has put together an email asking for your help with this awful, outdated law. Read about, forward it to anyone, and contact your local representatives.

From: Brent Renison
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 3:30 PM
To: brent@ssad.org
Subject: 60 Minutes Exposes Widow Penalty – from Brent Renison

Hello,

I promised to let everyone know when I would appear on CBS 60 Minutes. The time has come. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Bob Simon, the most honored journalist in international reporting, will expose the “Widow Penalty” to the nation this Sunday night , November 23rd on CBS 60 Minutes.

America is deporting widows of American citizens automatically and without appeal when their spouse dies during bureaucratic processing of the green card application.

My sincerest desire is that, after watching the broadcast, Monday morning you will do something about this terrible practice. There are a number of ways you can help to end the widow penalty. The most important is to tell your elected officials that a change must occur in the abysmal way that we treat widows of American citizens. Whether you effect a change in the way the current or future Administration handles the cases, or push through a legislative amendment signed by the President, this practice must stop. Click on the box to find out how you can help.

Please be a part of that change on Monday morning, and please forward this email to just one person whom you trust to do the right thing. Forward to more than one person at a time, and accountability is lost – people will delete the email, just as you might delete mine.

Brent Renison