Lucelly is from Colombia. She asked NPR to withhold her last name. After the September 11 attacks, she went to clean up at Ground Zero. She breathed the air, handled the rubble, did the work of recovery in the place where the towers had stood. She has since been diagnosed with breast cancer and respiratory disease — both conditions associated with exposure to the toxic dust and chemicals released by the towers’ collapse. She is still undocumented. Twenty-five years later.

THE IMMIGRANT WORKFORCE OF GROUND ZERO  

The Ground Zero recovery and cleanup operation in the weeks and months after September 11, 2001 relied heavily on an immigrant workforce — documented and undocumented. These workers performed some of the most hazardous work of the recovery: hauling debris, clearing the site, working in conditions that exposed them to asbestos, pulverized concrete, jet fuel, and the specific toxic mix that the towers’ collapse produced. Many of them did not have access to the health monitoring and compensation programs that were later established.

THE ZADROGA ACT AND WHO IT COVERS  

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act provides health monitoring and compensation for people who were exposed to Ground Zero dust and developed associated illnesses. The question of who qualifies has been a documented source of tension: the specific documentation requirements have been barriers for undocumented workers who did not want to present themselves to federal agencies, and for workers whose presence at Ground Zero was less formally documented than firefighters or police officers.

Whether Lucelly has been able to access any Zadroga Act benefits, and what barriers she has faced, is from NPR’s confirmed reporting on her specific situation.

THE SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITY  

Lucelly’s story is not primarily an immigration story, though it is that too. It is a specific accountability story about what the United States asked of its immigrant workforce in the immediate aftermath of September 11 — and what it has provided in return in the 25 years since. The 2,977 people killed in the attacks are honored annually. The people who went to the site in the days and weeks after and worked in conditions that produced their subsequent cancers and respiratory diseases have a more complicated relationship to that honor.

THE ADMINISTRATION’S IMMIGRATION CONTEXT  

Lucelly’s continued undocumented status exists in the specific 2026 context of the arc’s documented immigration enforcement: the DHS surveillance of Minneapolis churches and unions (August 26); the Prairieland Nine prosecution (September 5); the deportation machine the arc has tracked since August 1. The administration that is conducting that enforcement is the administration under which Lucelly is still undocumented 25 years after cleaning up Ground Zero.

She went to Ground Zero to clean up after the attacks. She breathed the air. She got breast cancer. She got respiratory disease. She is still undocumented. Twenty-five years later, the nation read 2,977 names aloud at the site where she worked. Her name is not in the official count of those who were harmed.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT  

▸  Lucelly’s health — from NPR’s ongoing reporting on her situation

▸  Zadroga Act access — whether undocumented Ground Zero workers can access the compensation program

▸  Immigration status — whether Lucelly’s specific situation produces any formal legal action

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

Lucelly Colombian undocumented worker Ground Zero cleanup breast cancer respiratory disease still undocumented 25 years NPR reporting from confirmed NPR reporting. Last name withheld at her request.

⚖️  BIAS CHECK — WHO IS SAYING WHAT
Lucelly	The specific subject; her account of going to Ground Zero and her subsequent health consequences is her confirmed testimony to NPR
NPR	Reporting the story on the 25th anniversary; documenting the immigrant workforce dimension of the Ground Zero cleanup
ONYX	Covering the story at its full human weight; naming the administration’s immigration context because it is directly relevant to Lucelly’s continued legal status; not characterizing Lucelly’s immigration status as a policy position

SOURCES

▸  NPR — Lucelly undocumented Ground Zero cleanup worker cancer 25th anniversary, September 12, 2026