September 11 widow wins battle to stay in US

A British mother whose husband died in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre today won her battle to stay in US with her two young children.

Deena Gilbey, 39, said she was ‘‘so, so relieved and happy’’ after immigration authorities granted her a green card following a 10-month struggle.

Mrs Gilbey faced being deported on September 11, this year, because she lost her right to stay in the country when her husband Paul died, despite her two sons being US citizens.

‘‘I’m just so thankful to everybody, especially all the British people, who fought for me to stay,’’ she told PA News.

‘‘Even though they were three thousand miles away they showed incredible empathy with what happened on 9/11.

‘‘Nothing can bring my husband back or give my boys their father again, but this long, painful fight has shown me how decent and kind people can be when they see something is wrong.’’

She especially praised British Prime Minister Tony Blair who had backed her campaign.

Mrs Gilbey was told by US immigration authorities that she faced deportation if she did not leave the country voluntarily, just days after being widowed.

‘‘I said to them, ‘What will happen to me?’, and they told me I would be arrested and thrown out.

‘‘After everything that had happened it seemed too much to take. I desperately wanted to stay so that I could be close to where Paul died and so my children could grow up in their home country.’’

New York senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was among several prominent politicians to back her campaign.

She and Mr Gilbey, who worked for EuroBrokers, had lived in the US for 10 years. The couple had applied for green cards in 1994 but had to start the process over again when her husband changed jobs.

Mr Gilbey was working on the 84th floor of the World Trade Centre’s South Tower when the suicide hijackers struck.

He helped evacuate his colleagues from their office and then remained behind to help others escape from the doomed building.

Mrs Gilbey, who is originally from Southend, in Essex, but now lives in New Jersey, said she would celebrate receiving her green card by taking her children, Mason, seven, and Max, four, to DisneyWorld.

‘‘Paul loved it there when he was young and we had planned to take the kids to it for the first time last October.

‘‘I hope Paul is looking down and seeing that now, at last, we can begin to have a little fun after such a terrible time.’’