Law offers hope to victims

Mariana De Maio
Adelante Assistant Editor

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For undocumented immigrant women, fear of deportation can prevent them from calling the police if their partners are battering them.
But at a time of tightening immigration laws, one federal law is giving hope to some immigrant abuse victims. Thanks to the Violence Against Women Act, abused women married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident have the right to apply for their own “green card.”
“These women need to know that under VAWA they have relief,” said Mira Mdivani, a Kansas City immigration attorney who works with many immigrant abuse victims.
Many abuse victims don’t know about VAWA because most feel isolated. This law provides access to legal documents for undocumented women who have been brutalized and held captive in their own homes.
Protecting against deportation allows victims to obtain protective orders against their abusers, making them more willing to cooperate with law enforcement and prosecutors in criminal cases brought against their abusers.
The law now says these women can apply for residency after they are divorced. The law also eases another burden: applicants no longer have to offer proof they have experienced “extreme hardship.” It allows them to obtain permanent residency without leaving the country, and the law provides protection regardless of how they entered the country.
Another tool is the U-Visa, which allows any immigrant woman to apply for her green card if she is the victim of serious crimes, and the assailant is not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident.
According to attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford, a victim of a crime should, in theory, have government protection with a U-Visa, but “in reality you won’t find prosecutors who will help you, unless you have multiple offenses.”
The purpose of VAWA is to promote criminal prosecutions of those who commit acts of battery or extreme cruelty against immigrant women and children.
Immigration officials require evidence of physical or mental abuse, and proof that the marriage was legitimate. Once an application is approved, a person is given three years of permission to be in the United States, pending the outcome of a green-card application.