Widow's Deportation Fight May Influence Other Immigration Cases Around Country

MAHWAH, N.J. – A northern New Jersey widow's fight to get her green card after the death of her husband could have a big impact on similar cases around the nation.

Mahwah resident Osserritta Robinson is an immigrant from Jamaica whose husband, a U.S. citizen, died in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash.

Immigration officials denied her green card application because the couple had been married eight months instead of the required two years.

An appeals court upheld the decision, but Robinson's attorney tells The Record of Bergen County that he's petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court.

An advocacy group, Surviving Spouses Against Deportation, says 170 widows and widowers face deportation because their citizen spouses died before two years of marriage.