I am pleasantly surprised today at the tone of your two immigration pieces. There's some hope for you yet!

SJR
The Pink Flamingo

The utter absurdity is simply amazing. For every Dahianna Heard, there are hundreds of illegals that came here with the intention of being here illegally. When they are caught committing a crime, ICE is not interested in deporting them, so local authorities play catch and release.

We need to lock down our borders, get rid of the illegals that are here, and make the process of immigration easier and faster for those who want to do it the right way!

She is illegal! Are you guys getting soft? Next thing you know al Qaeda will plant sleeper arab whores to marry and kill our soldiers.

Wake-up America!!!!!

What, the bureaucracy is able to reconsider? But I thought we had to abandon any prospect of securing our borders because of this situation. You mean the amnesty-supporters were lying to us?

Some people truly are anti-immigrant but most of the people complaining about illegal immigration are pro-immigrant.

They just don't like to see people who try to play by the rules punished and people who ignore the rules rewarded.

Barney, your cell phone must be off. Your therapist called. It turns out he can fit you in tomorrow, 9:00am. Bring any unused meds to the appointment.

These ladies should raise hell with their Senators and Congressmen, too. Go on local news and lay it out there for all to see--your government, your immigration service, pretty much preys on widows in line for a green card.

Jesus, what have we come to in this country?

Barney

The issue is illegal vs legal immigration. These women started the paperwork they did everything legal and when their husbands die for this country they should be able to stay. We often say that our men and women make the supreme sacrifice and no one feels it more than their family. Due consideration should be given to them.

Barney do you even understand what is involved with this process of getting a non immigrant visa , or green card? She has had to get a background check with local and international police, she had to have medical screening, and paid money not to mention getting interview about her personal life and being asked very intimate questions.

I am a naturalized American Citizen who served in the Navy and married a foreign national so I know the process. Some one want to come to the US do it the right way if they are process and their husband dies they should be allowed to stay.

If they sneak across the border they should be kicked out.

The only exception are the Cubans but We know how liberal treat them. They get heavily armed troops to hold an MP-5 to child's head and take them out of the country.

"The Heards had been married one year, eight months and 11 days at the time of his death, less than three months short of a strict two-year immigration requirement to grant visas in such cases."

8 months plus 3 months equal 11 months. Yep, 11 months in a year. Great reporting and fact checking there.

What's your point, engineer? A minor error in addition makes the whole piece suspect? Get your ass down from around your shoulders. You don't look good in fur.

Good let her stay here in america and become a naturalisned american citizen

Whaaa, whaaa.....goes Jempty. Intellectually impotent and not a patriot to boot!

Deportation today. Deportation tomorrow. Deportation forever. Is that too harsh for you Billy Boy?

Wake up idiot. Mexico (and Latinos in general but specifically Mexico) has a plan. It's to send tens of millions of their people here and remain loyal to the toilet known as Mexico. It's called an invasion and the liberals on the left and right don't seem to have a problem with it. Chicken-sh**s.

Most, repeat most Americans want illegal immigration stopped and even a small majority wants legal immigration reduced.

"We're a nation of immigrants"? Oh yeah, anyone care to debate me on that point?

Nessus-

"Most, repeat most Americans want illegal immigration stopped and even a small majority wants legal immigration reduced."

I would debate you if I thought it were worth the time. Your bombastic comment has nothing to do with the plight of a war widow with a family to consider. There's a big difference between illegal criminals jumping the border, or welfare moochers and people as a commenter stated above, that "play by the rules." I still like to view the U.S. as a compassionate nation with common sense.

Nessus is an idiot, next post please. Move along, don't linger watching the idiot slobber on himself. Pathetic.

Some conservative bloggers who have voiced opposition to or outrage over the widow penalty include

Fellow Wizbang contributor Jim Addison
Ed at Captain's Quarters
James Joyner at Outside the Beltway

As Jim once said

"It seems to me that if an alien spouse has a legitimate, lawful application in processing when the citizen spouse dies, it should be processed as if the citizen spouse were still alive. IOW, if it would have been approved had he/she lived, it should be approved after he/she dies. If it would have been declined anyway, it should be declined.

We're not talking about millions of people here. It wouldn't hurt us in any way, and would be the fair and just approach. Those who have followed the rules should not be penalized for "acts of God."

Ed wrote- "If ICE cannot make an exemption for Dahianna, then she will have to return to Venezuela and the Hugo Chavez regime, a particularly galling outcome for the widow of a man who died serving freedom. She will take Jeffrey's child with her and out of the country Jeffrey protected in several different phases of his life. Surely this cannot be justice."

Few people who learn of the widow penalty, support it once they learn of it. They goes for people on either side of the political spectrum.