Illegal immigrants who lost relatives in the 9/11 attacks may be eligible for temporary humanitarian parole...

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Illegal immigrants who lost relatives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may be able to get temporary legal status after federal officials cleared the way for them to apply without fearing deportation.

The plan, which emerged Thursday, could end years of limbo for about 25 people whose spouses or parents died in the disaster. They have gotten payments averaging $2.1 million from the federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, but they have lived under a legal cloud and had trouble investing the proceeds because they were in the country illegally, their lawyers say.

Their status has made their attorneys hesitant even to provide information to immigration authorities and Congressional representatives working on the issue, said one of the lawyers, Debra Brown Steinberg.

The federal Department of Homeland Security will consider giving the relatives a temporary humanitarian parole that would let them live and work in the United States, Assistant Secretary Stewart A. Baker told Steinberg in a letter. The agency will let the applicants provide their biographical information and immigration histories with assurances that the data will not be used to deport them, he wrote.

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...RONT01/80425003

[Sister Fracas 5]

Stirrin' the pot again I see, huh Ari? lol