Nearly three thousand people died at the biggest terrorist attack against the United States

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City. As every year, several tributes and events are prepared to honor the nearly 3,000 victims and more than 6,000 injured people during the attack.

Leer en español: 11-S: 17 años desde el mayor ataque terrorista contra Estados Unidos

"Almost three thousand people were killed today 17 years ago," Trump said at a rally in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the United flight 93, kidnapped by terrorists and with 40 people on board, crashed.

For his part, from the Pentagon, where one of the planes hit the headquarters of the Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia, the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, said: "We will never forget what happened here on that fateful morning. We are here to show our debt of honor and respect for the victims and their families."

A health risk

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 400,000 people in lower Manhattan were exposed to a dangerous combination of toxic substances during and after the attack. That is why the federal government created the World Trade Center Health Program to help those affected, but so far only about 80,000 people have registered.

According to the newspaper La Opinión, some of the diseases that these people presented are chronic bronchitis, reactive airway disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, sleep apnea and severe sinusitis.

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And the immigrants?

According to information from Clevver TeVe, of the nearly 3,000 people who died that day, 247 were Hispanic, including 18 Colombians, 3 Ecuadorians, 6 Cubans, 4 Argentines, 15 Mexicans, one Chilean, 43 Dominicans and several Salvadorans, Hondurans , Peruvians, Venezuelans and Paraguayans.

It is known from the Journal of Occupational Environmental Medicine that thousands of New York residents who volunteered to help find survivors were first-generation immigrants from Colombia, Ecuador, and Poland.

Currently, it is also known that many of these undocumented persons did not register in the health program due to ignorance of the language, which prevented them from accessing the information and for fear of being deported.

On July 9, Congressman Crowley announced a new bill called "9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act." According to the congressman's office, it seeks to protect more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants of all nationalities who worked in the rescue and cleanup of the World Trade Center.

"These workers provided critical services in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and suffered from exposure to airborne toxins and other hazards. Yet many of them still lack legal immigration options and have lived in fear of deportation from the country they served," Congressman Crowley said when presenting the law at the gates of New York City.

LatinAmerican Post | Luisa Fernanda Báez

Translated from "11-S: 17 años desde el mayor ataque terrorista contra Estados Unidos"