BLOOMINGTON - Todd Engstrom, who brought his bride, Diana, to the United States from Kosovo, thought they'd have all the time in the world together when they married near Springfield in 2003. | Video

But Todd Engstrom was killed just nine months later when a rocket propelled grenade struck his vehicle in Iraq where he worked as a private security contractor with the U.S. military.

Since then, his 28-year-old widow, who lives in Bloomington, has not known from one day to the next if she will be deported due to "the widow penalty."

Her husband died before immigration officials acted on her application for a green card. In the case of administrative delay, a foreign-born spouse of an American citizen cannot seek permanent U.S. residency unless the marriage lasted at least two years. The time limit is meant to prevent sham marriages. But, in the case of the death of a spouse, the government automatically terminates the application without allowing the survivor to prove the marriage was bona fide.

"I try to believe that everything will be fine because it's a lot better to believe that way," said Engstrom, who speaks perfect English and works as a sales floor supervisor at a women's clothing store in the Twin Cities. "I guess you have to be in the state of mind you are either going to be sane or you are going to go crazy. … But if you wake up every morning and think about it, you are not going to have a good day."

Engstrom would be allowed to stay in the U.S. if her husband had been a member of the U.S. military when he died, said her lawyer, Brent Renison, who is the attorney for more than 100 other widows and widowers who entered the United States legally from 50 countries yet face deportation following the deaths of their American spouses.

Some died in accidents. Some died of natural causes. Renison knows of one other widow of a U.S. security contractor killed in Iraq. About 20 children are involved.

According to Renison, U.S. officials stretched the exception for foreign-born nationals who are married to soldiers killed in Iraq to include the widow of a private security contractor killed during the recent hostilities because he had served in the U.S. military during the first Gulf War.

A recent change in U.S. law also permits spouses of Iraqis killed helping Americans in the war to apply for permanent residency in America, added Renison, an immigration attorney in the Portland, Ore. area, who is working on widow penalty cases for free. But no action has been taken to extend the same privilege to foreign spouses of private security forces killed while working under contract to America, he said.

"If Todd were Iraqi, she could stay," Renison said. "The bottom line is they are making exceptions left and right, but the problem remains. It is a systematic problem."

Class-action lawsuit

A hearing on whether a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the foreign-born survivors will be allowed to proceed is scheduled for Monday in federal district court in Los Angeles. Renison is hopeful. Two other district courts have ruled in favor of widows asking to stay.

Immigration officials are appealing one of the federal court rulings, but they haven't announced their intentions with regards to the other. They oppose the class-action lawsuit. Despite repeated attempts, they could not be reached for comment.

Renison is less optimistic about the chances for legislation on Engstrom's personal behalf that Illinois' two Democratic senators, Dick Durbin and presidential contender Barack Obama, have introduced in Congress. So-called limited-purpose bills are usually unsuccessful, Renison said, and congressional attempts to pass broader exceptions for foreign-born widows have been caught up in the national controversy surrounding illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, Engstrom remains upbeat.

"I do take hope. Honestly I never lost hope to begin with," she said.

Meeting in Kosovo

Engstrom met her future husband while he served as a commander of a United Nations special forces group in Kosovo in 2002. His job was to supervise peace-keeping forces and protect dignitaries. She worked in the same building as a U.S. interpreter. Growing up, she learned to speak English by comparing the dialogue of American movies to the subtitles written in her native Albanian. She also speaks Serbian.

The couple dated for two years. Todd eventually followed the custom of her country and sent a go-between to ask her journalist father for her hand in marriage.

"He was so worried," she said, laughing. "I said, 'Don't be.' My parents liked him a lot."

Todd wanted to marry in America with his family there, so they traveled to Athens near Springfield where the ceremony was performed at his parents' home on Dec. 29, 2003. The date also is the birthday of his son from his first marriage, Dalton, a high school freshman. He lives with his mother in Tennessee.

The Engstroms had just three weeks together before Todd was scheduled to go to Iraq. The couple took time in the midst of their brief honeymoon to fill out the paperwork to obtain Diana's green card that would permit her to start the process toward permanent residency. Only one step remained: Immigration officials needed to schedule a time to interview the couple.

Renison noted the time needed to obtain a green card varies from place to place depending on backlog. Some foreign-born spouses receive their cards in as little as three months. Renison knows of others who were told not to contact immigration officials again for more than two years after they applied.

Todd went to Iraq in January 2004. He returned home for a three-week leave the following April.

"We said 'goodbye' and he went back. It was the normal, 'OK, see you later,'" said Diana, who lived with her in-laws while her husband was in Iraq.

"She is an upstanding young girl," said her father-in-law, Ron. "She is part of the family, and always will be."

Todd was killed on Sept. 14, 2004. He was dead by the time immigration officials notified Engstrom the interview was set.

Facing deportation

If she'd been granted her green card, the two-year time requirement would have been waived, she could press her case to stay in America and become a U.S. citizen if she wished, Renison said. Without the card, she faces deportation.

She worried she might be arrested and sent to Kosovo when she was summoned to Chicago to meet with immigration officials in early February. Instead, the interviewer told her he was directed only to update her file. He had no idea when or if she would be marked for deportation, she said. Renison added immigration officials have been slow to deport people in the past. But efforts are being made to speed the process.

"It could happen any time," Renison said.

Meanwhile, Engstrom moved to Bloomington to be near her husband's aunt, Kim Engstrom, a member of the Military Affinity Group at State Farm Insurance Cos., and to prove she could make it in America on her own. She wanted to attend Illinois State University but decided to wait until her fate was decided. She's rethinking her plans after waiting three years for her immigration status to be resolved.

Her life has been disrupted in other ways. She missed the funerals of her paternal grandparents in Kosovo. She knows she will not be allowed back into the U.S. if she leaves.

She celebrates Dalton's birthday with the rest of the family Dec. 29, but it's hard as she remembers the double significance of the date.

And, she waits.

"I'm just hoping everything goes well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed," she said. "I understand immigration (officials), they have a lot of illegal people coming in and out. But I do think they should check cases more in-depth and see what the situation is before they send someone home. It was not a marriage of convenience. … (Todd was killed.) There is nothing I could do about that."

---

Staying here

2002: Diana Engstrom meets her future husband, Todd, while he served as a commander of a United Nations special forces group in Kosovo.

Dec. 29 2003: The couple marries at his parent's home in Athens, Ill., near Springfield.

Jan. 2004: Todd Engstrom goes to Iraq as a private security contractor with the U.S. military.

Sept. 14, 2004: Todd is killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hits his vehicle.

2005: Federal legislation is introduced by Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama on Diana's behalf. The legislations is pending.

March 3, 2008: Federal court hearing scheduled in Los Angeles on whether a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of foreign-born widows of Americans will be allowed to proceed.