CHICAGO, June 15 (UPI) -- Three members of the Illinois delegation to the U.S. Congress sponsored legislation to keep the widow of a U.S. contractor killed in Iraq from being deported.
Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama and Rep. Lane Evans say they want to make sure Diana Engstrom is not sent back to Serbia following the death of her husband, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Todd Engstrom, 35, died last September when his convoy was attacked near Balad, Iraq, where he was training Iraqi security forces. It was not unusual to find Engstrom in such a situation -- he met Diana while on a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
But when Todd Engstrom died, Diana Engstrom, 25, learned she could be deported. That's when the family turned to Congress.
"It is the least we can do to repay the family of Todd Engstrom, a brave American who was killed working to bring peace and security to Iraq," Durbin told the Sun-Times.
Diana Engstrom cannot be deported while the bill is being considered and, if it passes she would have permanent resident status.
