Visa Denied

The gist of a story I heard on NPR today, during the evening commute:

Two Iraqi women were denied visas to enter the US; they were coming to meet anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan, and to speak out against the war. Each woman had lost husband and children to the American forces in Iraq, shot when approaching a check-post.

The visas were denied on the grounds that the women could not convince the INS that they would return to Iraq. The specific reason?

Insufficient family ties in Iraq.