AOC Revives Push for 9/11 Migrant Heroes
Bill would give green cards to Ground Zero cleanup workers still left undocumented 24 years later.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., along with Reps. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., today reintroduced the “9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act,” legislation that would give lawful permanent residency—and eventually citizenship—to immigrant workers who risked their lives in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The bill would cover undocumented individuals who performed rescue, recovery, demolition, or cleanup work at Ground Zero, the Staten Island Landfill, the Pentagon, and the Shanksville, Pa., crash site. Many of those workers, often hired off the books, were exposed to toxic air and carcinogens, leaving them with long-term illnesses but without legal status or access to federal health care programs.