9/11 rescue and clean-up workers live in constant fear of deportation

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Some 2,000 undocumented immigrants who played a role in the rescue and clean-up efforts at Ground Zero in New York after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are waging a never-ending battle to avoid being deported from the United States.

Many of them are also facing serious physical and mental illnesses that they developed after working to clean up the rubble of the twin towers at the World Trade Center. Three of those undocumented immigrants recently spoke to El Diario of New York to share their stories.

SEE ALSO: 247 Latinos lost in World Trade Center terrorist attack

Nayibe Padredin, a 75-year-old Colombian woman, is one of them. She suffers from a number of health problems — including asthma, gastric reflux, migraine and chronic sinusitis — that she said were caused by the toxic chemicals she inhaled while working in the rescue and clean-up efforts at Ground Zero.

Padredin said her health problems make her fear for her life. But what worries her the most is dying without first being able to hug her four grandchildren who live in her native country of Colombia.

“It terrifies me not being able to go see them,” she told El Diario.

Padredin can’t travel to Colombia because she is undocumented and fears she won’t be able to come back to the United States. She and other workers who helped in the rescue and clean-up efforts at Ground Zero are now advocating for a law that would allow them to legalize their immigration status.

“Legal residency is the least we deserve, all of us who worked at Ground Zero and for which we have serious medical problems,” Rubiela Arias told El Diario.

Arias is a 47-year-old undocumented immigrant who hasn’t been able to see her family in Colombia ever since she came to live in New York in 1998.

SEE ALSO: One man remembers: 9/11 made us all American

Like Padredin, Arias worked cleaning up the rubble of the World Trade Center. After being exposed to substances such as asbestos and lead, Arias was diagnosed with reflux, chronic asthma, problems with the skin and fibromyalgia (muscle pain). She now takes 16 types of medications.

“We have full coverage in health care and medicine, but we live in the uncertainty of deportation,” said Arias, who told EL Diario she still remembers the smell of burning, the sound of sirens every time a body was found and the dense dust. “It’s a nightmare that has no end.”

Besides getting health care coverage, the three undocumented immigrants who spoke to El Diario say they also received between $25,000 to 30,000 of compensation from the companies that hired them.

In addition, they expect to receive compensation through the Zadroga Act. Enacted by President Barack Obama in 2011, the law established a program to provide medical treatment and financial compensation to rescue, recovery and clean-up workers who helped in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Jose Gaviria, a 64-year-old undocumented immigrant from Colombia who also helped with the clean-up efforts, indicated the all aid is good. However, he said it doesn’t change the fact that they still live in constant anxiety of being deported and not being able to visit their families.

“Money is not everything,” Gaviria said. “It is more important to be able to go visit our families.”

SEE ALSO: Search and rescue dogs: The unknown heroes of 9/11