The Violence Against (Some) Women Act

Creating Options

Marianna was only 33, but years of abuse made her look much older. I sat and listened to her story, stopping to ask her questions in broken Spanish to fill out her U-visa application. Every so often, she would turn and shush her sons - a pair of adorable 4-year-old twins - telling them to settle down and share the tiny toy car and highlighters that were supposed to keep them occupied. The boys played at the end of the table, out of earshot of their mother reliving her physical, emotional, verbal, and financial abuse.

She called him "esposo" even though they had never married. He degraded her and said he would never marry her because his girlfriend was prettier. He lorded his green card over her to coerce sex, housework, children, and money -always threatening to leave her or have her deported. For 8 years Marianna just dealt with it, eventually giving birth to her twins in the US.

The final straw came when a friend saw her bruises, encouraged her to call the police, and helped Marianna escape to a local shelter. By helping the police prosecute her abuser she could apply for a U-visa. Getting the visa would authorize her to work legally and could eventually translate into permanent residency with her two boys. She was a skilled seamstress, and she could probably get a job earning enough money to stop collecting cans. The lawyers at the shelter would help her contact the prosecutor's office and get them to certify that she was cooperating. Her application would show that she was a hard-working mom who had stayed out of trouble, aside from staying in the country too long.

Upending the System

The U-visa system is in danger of being gutted by the recently passed House version of the Violence Against Women Act (HB 4970). Instead of increasing the number of U-visas, as in the Senate version, the House version would throw up roadblocks to make survivors like Marianna even less likely to report their abusers.

One of the most severe changes would remove the capability for U-visa holders to transition to lawful permanent residency. Currently, U-visas are valid for 4 years, but they can be transitioned into permanent-residency after the 4-year period for humanitarian reasons or to ensure family unity. The provisions of HB 4970 strike this option entirely for U-visa holders. This change is rationalized as a means to limit immigration into the US. But U-visas are limited to only 10,000 granted a year. That number would not change under HB 4970. Women like Marianna would only gain a temporary reprieve from immigration anxieties with few options of staying with their citizen children. Instead of increasing social good by prosecuting abusers and allowing mothers to stay with and care for their children, HB 4970 only increases the incentives for undocumented women to stay with their abusers or stay off the immigration radar by not reporting.

Even more troublesome are the changes to the U-visa application process itself. HB 4970 adds an in-person interview and investigation to the process. Prosecutors must still independently certify cooperation. But the petitioning alien is subjected to a trial of her own. Under HB 4970, she would have to report to the local immigration office for an in-person interview, where an officer is allowed to gather evidence unrelated to the domestic violence petition. Any evidence of past petitions for legal immigration status is allowed. The accused partner is also invited to present evidence about the petitioning victim. In cases like Marianna's, where the abuser is a green card holder, threats of deportation become much more real. The motivations behind these new provisions seem obvious, given that an immigration judge presides over all U-visa petitions anyway. By requiring victims to expose their lives to immigration officers, with no guarantee that the information discovered will not be used to deport them, HB 4970 tacitly encourages immigrant women to stay silent and suffer through abuse.

It should not be surprising that the current House is against more immigration. What is surprising is the context. Immigration policy involves a balancing of interests. But in this instance, the changes to the U-visa system show much more weight is being given to the appearance of a hardline on immigration than any idea of public good. No one wants to encourage immigration fraud. But if the U-visa system becomes so onerous, immigrant women will become even more vulnerable to abuse. Fears of deportation and inequalities in legal status already fuel many instances of domestic violence. HB 4970 turns the purpose of the Violence Against Women Act on its head and serves more abusers than it does victims.

(777 words)

-- JacquelineRios - 20 May 2012