Undocumented immigrants who worked as cleanup crews at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks are now living in fear of deportation under the Trump administration. The group, estimated to be between 2,000 and 6,000 workers, was exposed to toxic debris and psychological trauma during their work. According to Lucelly, a member of the group who asked for her last name to be withheld, many workers were not told they would be working in a "danger zone" when they accepted cleaning jobs at Ground Zero. Since then, over 57,000 cancer cases have been reported among those exposed to the toxic debris.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
They cleaned up ground zero.
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They → clean → ground
Now many are hiding from ICE
NEW YORK —
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many → hide → ICE
Once a week, in a Queens office building, a group of immigrants in their 50s and 60s gathers.
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group → gather → 50s
They've all known each other for some 25 years: they met when they were cleaning up ground zero together.
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they → know → ground
They are among the thousands of cleanup crews who rushed to the destruction in lower Manhattan following the attacks of 9/11.
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who → rush → 9/11
They were all exposed to toxic debris, and psychological trauma.
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They → expose → debris
And as the Trump administration pursues its aggressive immigration agenda, many are living in enhanced fear of immigration enforcement.
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many → pursue → enforcement
"We would have lunch in the rubble, in the dust"
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We → have → dust
"Every morning I would stand on Roosevelt Avenue and 82nd," says a woman in the group named Lucelly.
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woman → stand → group
She asked NPR to withhold her last name — like many here, she's undocumented.
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she → ask → many
She came to the U.S. from Colombia in 2000, and would wait on the avenue to get picked up for cleaning gigs.
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She → come → gigs
On the morning of September 12th, 2001, the day after the attacks, a van pulled up.
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van → pull → attacks
"Come on, let's go!" she recalls the driver yelling.
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driver → come → ?
They offered her $8.50 an hour to clean the wreckage.
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They → offer → wreckage
"If the driver had told us: 'We're going to a danger zone,' people would not have rushed in," she says.
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she → tell → zone
But she says it felt like just another job, and a duty to the city that had welcomed her.
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that → say → her
Like a lot of people who went to clean up at ground zero, she went armed only with her house-cleaning gear: a paper mask and rubber gloves.
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she → go → gear
"We would have lunch in the rubble, in the dust," she recalls.
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she → have → dust
"Then we'd go home wearing the same clothing we'd been working in."
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we → go → clothing
Since then, Lucelly has battled breast cancer and respiratory disease.
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Lucelly → battle → cancer
She is among the tens of thousands whose health was severely compromised by exposure to the hundreds of tons of toxic debris the tower's collapse released into the air.
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collapse → compromise → air
Officials knew within weeks but called it safe.
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Officials → know → it
What we know about the undocumented workers at ground zero
It's not known how many undocumented workers were involved in the 9/11 cleanup, but advocates say it's somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 people.
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it → know → cleanup
"There was this rush to clean everything up quickly," says social worker Rosa Bramble Caballero, who runs the clean up crew support group in Queens.
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who → be → Queens
"The city hired multiple contractors for the clean up.
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city → hire → up
In turn these contractors subcontracted, and those subcontractors subcontracted, and hired day laborers who were standing in street corners in Queens.
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who → subcontract → Queens
Mind you, these were companies who had received millions of dollars from the city.
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who → mind → city
Many women who did housekeeping were taken there.
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who → do → housekeeping
And then they got there and realized they were actually at ground zero, which, by the way, sometimes they were not told that that's where they were going."
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they → get → way
A nearly decade-old legislative push to give undocumented ground zero workers a path to citizenship has failed to gain traction.
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push → give → traction
The 9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act was first introduced in 2017, then again in 2021.
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Act → introduce → 2021
It was reintroduced in 2025 by Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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It → reintroduce → Cortez
No Republicans have signed on to the bill, each version of which has remained stalled in the House Judiciary Committee.
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version → sign → Committee
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Representative Ocasio-Cortez told NPR she believes "this legislation genuinely should be bipartisan and non-controversial.
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legislation → tell → NPR
These heroes, many of whom sacrificed their lives, are people who are absolutely deserving of citizenship."
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who → sacrifice → citizenship
But with immigration reform remaining a highly divisive topic, it is unlikely the bill would advance.
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bill → remain → ?
NPR reached out to the White House for comment, and received no response.
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NPR → reach → response
"I was blindfolded": the psychological toll of 9/11 cleanup
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I → blindfold → cleanup
A woman named Rosa, from Guatemala, says she arrived at the site the days after the attack.
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she → name → attack
She asked that NPR withhold her last name: although she is legally in the U.S., she is nervous about increased immigration enforcement operations here in Queens.
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she → ask → Queens
…and 50 more, not listed.
