A federal district judge ordered USCIS to reopen the cases of 13 immigrants whose conditional green card applications in Los Angeles were denied because of the “widow penalty.” According to DHS rules, the USCIS must deny an application for a conditional green card if the citizen spouse dies before the green card process is complete, and the marriage is less than two years old. Advocates hope that Janet Napolitano, new DHS head, will change the policy or that Congress will pass a law eliminating the “widow penalty.
