Three New York region legislators have reintroduced legislation creating a path to citizenship for thousands of undocumented immigrants who aided in Sept. 11 recovery efforts. Twenty years following the attacks, an estimated 2,000 recovery workers have continued to lack legal status. The Associated Press (AP) reported that after so many years, some have given up hope of any permanent relief.

“No one has more ‘earned’ the right to call themselves an American than the undocumented workers and volunteers who did clean-up and search-and-rescue at Ground Zero,” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adriano Espaillat, and Grace Meng said in reintroducing the 9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act. “Yet, twenty years later, many of these immigrants still lack permanent residency, even as they struggle with the health impact of asbestos exposure and other related trauma and injury.”

The AP had reported last month that among the recovery workers still waiting for permanent relief was Lucelly Gil, who cleared toxic muck from offices and restaurants. “She received compensation from the federal victims fund after developing breast cancer and takes medication for rhinitis and gastritis,” the report said. “She is being treated for depression and uses an asthma inhaler.” But still lacking is the permanent relief—citizenship—that she and other workers deserve.

“Instead of giving us some compensation, they could have given us (immigration) papers,” she told the AP. “All of us, all of the Hispanic workers, we saw the consequences of that cleanup work later on.” Franklin Anchahua-Herrera told the AP that he’s also still suffering from health issues, and his legal status makes it hard to make a living for himself in America. “Attorneys who helped us years ago told us we would get immigration papers but, look, 20 years have passed and we have nothing,” he said in the report.

It appears that it was only in 2017 that legislation covering this specific group of immigrant workers was introduced in Congress by former New York Rep. Joe Crowley. House Democrats would not regain control of the chamber until 2018. Ocasio-Cortez would also go on to successfully primary Crowley and outright win the seat that year. 

While Democrats now control the House, Senate, and presidency, the Jim Crow filibuster means that they would need support from Republicans, and Republicans have shown they simply don’t give a shit on policies as popular as putting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, temporary status holders, and farmworkers on a path to legalization. Remember how very recently Republicans made a big show of pretending to care about Afghan allies amid President Biden’s withdrawal, only to then unanimously vote to cut off refugee assistance? That doesn’t bode well for the 9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act—and that’s a fucking disgrace.

Democrats should scrap the Jim Crow filibuster—and do it for workers like Gil, Anchahua-Herrera, and Rubiela Arias, who told AFP she suffers from respiratory ailments, stomach ailments, and PTSD stemming from her work. “That the people who cleaned do not have papers is an injustice because they lost the most precious thing, which is health,” she said in the report.

“Former 9/11 ground zero cleanup worker Rubiela Arias demonstrates the use of a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device that she uses, following the diagnosis of breating dificulties associated with her work in the wake of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks, at her home in the Queens borough of New York on May 27, 2021.”

“Thousands of undocumented immigrants worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the cleanup efforts following the 9/11 attacks to help clear debris, asbestos and dust for months without adequate protective equipment—risking their mental, emotional, and physical health for our nation,” Espaillat said. “And yet, to this very day, instead of being shown gratitude for their heroism and support, they continue to live in fear of deportation. It’s unacceptable, immoral, and simply un-American.”

“It is way past time to pass this bill and doing so would be the right and decent thing to do,” Meng said. “We cannot turn our backs on those who are struggling with health problems after they put themselves in harm’s way for our country. Congress must act.” Ocasio-Cortez said, “[t]he solution is simple and entirely in the hands of Congress. We must act.”