An article published yesterday in The Gleaner, 'Widow's penalty puts immigration in the red' sparked some interest.

In the article, it spoke of how some 200 immigrants to the United States of America are now facing deportation due to the widow's penalty immigration policy.

What the policy stipulates is that if a non-American citizen marries an American, and that American dies before the 'filing' for the non-American is complete, that non-American will be deported to the country of origin. To put it in context, if a Jamaican marries an American and the American dies before the Jamaican is granted a green card, then the US immigration will deport you.

We don't know if there are any Jamaicans in the batch of 200 that is now facing possible deportation, but chances are there are. Many Jamaicans have fallen in love with Americans and may have so desired to emigrate there to settle with their spouses. As we know, fully completing this legal process is complex and time consuming. It may take years, be it the K1 (Fiancé visa), K3 (Spousal Visa) or any other legal route.

The bottom line is that it seems unfair to deport migrants whose attempt to legally settle in the country may be thwarted by the death of their spouses. Many of these people made major changes to their lives before migrating. They could have also started families and livelihoods in the US and deportation would only negatively affect them.

So to the US immigration department, we ask that you reconsider revising that widow's penalty clause.