New York, NY —

They were once human cargo on a smuggling ship, the Golden Venture, which ran aground off Queens 13 years ago, killing ten people. Now, thirty Chinese immigrants who survived that voyage want to become citizens.

REPORTER: Michael Chen is now married, with two children, and owns a restaurant in Ohio.

CHEN: I live in daily fear that I will be deported. What would happen to my family, their home and my business which I work hard at everyday for many hours?

REPORTER: Activists say many Golden Venture survivors have already been deported. They want Congress to pass a bill allowing the remaining known survivors to become permanent citizens. The Golden Ventures' smugglers were sentenced to prison earlier this year.

A documentary about the Golden Venture opens tonight.