NY Pols Propose Protections For Undocumented 9/11 Volunteers

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — A group of New York-legislators is backing a bill that would give green cards to any undocumented migrants who helped in the aftermath of 9/11.

Rep. Joe Crowley announced his new bill on Sunday outside City Hall, where he called for any migrants who risked their health to help in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks to be granted permanent resident status. Crowley moved to propose the bill after outrage over the case of Carlos Cardona, an immigrant who faced deportation this year over a decades-old nonviolent drug conviction, Crowley said. Cardona had volunteered to help clear mounds of rubble that crowded downtown Manhattan in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Cardona, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was detained during a February check-in with immigration officials in Manhattan, days after the Trump administration said that deporting immigrations with criminal convictions was a priority. After outrage of Cardona's detainment and pending removal proceedings, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardoned Cardona in June, wiping clean his criminal record. He was released by ICE shortly after Cuomo's pardon, although his immigration case is still pending.

Crowley, who represents Queens and the Bronx in the U.S. House of Representatives, wants any other workers like Cardona to be granted permanent legal status.

"They went to work at a long, hazardous and sad job of cleaning up the destruction of a terrorist attack on that day. There is no doubt in my mind that what they did was beyond patriotic. It was heroic," Crowley said on Sunday. "They served our country when we needed a hand, and now we’re only showing them, unfortunately, the back of ours. Instead of gratitude, they’re being shown the door."

Crowley told the New York Times that he estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 people could benefit from the bill. The legislation would extend permanent legal residence for any workers or volunteers receiving benefits under the Zadroga Act, the New York Daily News reported.

The bill will be formally introduced in Congress later this week, Crowley said. He was joined by New York area representatives Nydia Velázquez, Jerrold Nadler and Adriano Espaillat on Sunday.

Lead image via Shutterstock.