Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)

October –– The family of Waqar Hasan who was brutally murdered in Dallas, TX, in a hate crime after 9/11, will in all probability be granted permanent resident status following the relentless work done by Rep. Rush Holt (D-New Jersey).

The bill, H.R. 867, was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate just before the Congress adjourned last week. Now the bill has to be signed by the President to make it official.

“Today, Congress has helped them take a huge step toward putting the tragedy of September 15, 2001, behind them and restoring the dream of a better life that brought them to America,” said Rep. Holt.

Mark Anthony Stroman walked into Waqar Hasan’s convenience store in Dallas, TX, on the night of Sept. 15, 2001, and shot the 46-year-old father of four in the face. When asked by police why he shot Waqar, Stroman expressed no remorse. “I did it to retaliate on local Arab Americans or whatever you want to call them,” he said. “I did what every American wanted to do but didn’t.” Stroman is now on death row.

Hasan came to the U.S. in 1993 and was followed a year later, by his wife Durreshahwar (Duri) and his four daughters Anum, Iqra, Nida and Asna.