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

The plan, which emerged yesterday, could end years of limbo for about 25 people whose spouses or parents died in the attacks. They have gotten payments averaging USD 2.1 million from the federal September 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.

"These families share an experience with the American people that is among the mot significant in American history," Baker told The New Yok Times in an interview yesterday.

Source : PTI