Immigrant workers who helped clean up lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks have long asked to obtain legal status as a way to compensate for their subsequent health problems. Today, only several dozen are still protesting and asking for legal status.
Franklin Anchahua-Herrera sits for a portrait in a room that he shares with his father, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, in the Queens borough of New York. Anchahua-Herrera has several health conditions certified by the World Trade Center Health Program that are approved for treatment benefits for individuals who worked at the site in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
But 20 years after 9/11, only several dozens are still participating in protests and making the request, while others have abandoned that fight.“It is hard to find a job here without immigration status,” Anchaua said. “Attorneys who helped us years ago told us we would get immigration papers but, look, 20 years have passed and we have nothing.”
The bill did not go very far; it was not reintroduced by any of Congressman Crowley’s fellow cosponsors after he retired. Dozens of cleanup workers have shown up there to talk, eat chicken and cheese empanadas, and sip coffee together. “Instead of giving us some compensation, they could have given us papers,” she said. “All of us, all of the Hispanic workers, we saw the consequences of that cleanup work later on.”
“Many of them were not aware of the programs because they were not connected in the same way that many other responders were. Many of them were also not English speakers,” said Reibman.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rocket Launch Scheduled Sept. 11 from Wallops📅 Mark your calendars: a sounding rocket is scheduled to lift off Sept. 11 from NASA_Wallops, in a launch window beginning at 4pm ET. The launch will be streamed live & is expected to be visible from areas in Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware. Learn more:
Read more »
Pretrial hearings for alleged 9/11 plotters set to resume at Guantanamo this weekPretrial hearings in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been accused of being the lead plotter behind the September 11 attacks, and four other detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are set to resume on Tuesday.
Read more »
Belarus Jails One of Its Last Leading Dissidents for 11 YearsA Minsk court found Maria Kalesnikava guilty of conspiring to seize power, creating an extremist group, and calling for actions that could damage national security, effectively silencing the last main opposition voice still in the country.
Read more »
Opinion: On 9/11, my 'White card' was revokedDean Obeidallah writes that on September 11th, 20 years ago, he learned what White privilege truly meant. The tragedy that brought down the Twin Towers in Manhattan also unleashed a wave of anti-Arab hate -- which had been foreign to Obeidallah until then.
Read more »
How the Secret Service changed after 9/11: OpinionEven before the 9/11 attacks, the Secret Service was starting to modernize the way it did business
Read more »
Belarus opposition figure and protest leader sentenced to 11 years in jailA Belarusian court on Monday sentenced Maria Kolesnikova, a prominent opposition figure who led mass street protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, to 11 years in prison, the latest move in a widespread crackdown on government critics following a contested election last year.
Read more »