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KATHRYN P. RUSSELL | IMMIGRATION LAW Immigration Options for Victims of
Domestic Violence
Despite the gridlock that has become the hallmark of recent legislative sessions in the last two decades, Congress has made numerous changes to immi-
gration laws that o er protections for immigrant victims of domestic violence and similar crimes in the United States.
Unfortunately, immigrants (especially undocumented immigrants) are vulnerable to extended episodes of do- mestic violence abuse because they are afraid to report crime out of fear of detection and removal. As a result, anecdotal evidence suggests that incidents of abuse exist at least on par with national trends, if not at a higher rate of occurrence. Under all circumstances, domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse are illegal and as a result, all people in the United States (regardless of race, color, re- ligion, sex, age, ethnicity, national origin or immigration status) are guaranteed protection. Any victim of domestic violence – regardless of immigration or citizenship status – can seek help.
e Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 in- cluded provisions to allow immigrant victims of domes- tic violence to obtain immigration relief independent of their abusive spouse or parent through a con dential legal process. e Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000 created additional forms of immigration relief for immigrant victims of violent crime (U visa) and victims of sexual assault or tra cking (T visa). ese laws have helped thousands of individuals who are trapped in physi- cally and emotionally abusive relationship seek reprieve through an adjudications process that dually provides se- curity assurances to vet an applicant’s background along- side a pathway toward lawful status.
For victims of domestic violence, a battered spouse, child or parent, may le an immigrant visa petition under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the VAWA. is law allows certain spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens and certain spouses and chil- dren of permanent residents to le a petition for them- selves, without the abuser’s knowledge, if the applicant “was battered by or has been the subject of extreme cru- elty.”
U.S. Immigration de nes battery or extreme cruelty as including, being the victim of “any act or threatened act of violence, which results or threatens to result in physi- cal or mental injury.” Psychological or sexual abuse or exploitation, including rape, molestation, incest or forced prostitution are considered to be acts of violence. Notably, “other abusive actions may also be acts of violence under certain circumstances, including acts that, in and of them- selves, may not initially appear violent but that are a part
of an overall pattern of violence.” In short, there is a broad de ni- tion of abuse which can be used to serve as the basis for requesting protections under VAWA.
ere is a common misconception that only immigrant spouses can request VAWA, but bene ts are also available to parents and children who have su ered abuse. To apply for VAWA as a battered spouse, you may le for yourself if you are, or were, the abused spouse of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. You may also le as an abused spouse if your child has been abused by your U.S. citizen or per- manent resident spouse. VAWA protections also extend to parents, if the individual is the parent of a U.S. citizen and has been abused by that U.S. citizen son or daughter. Lastly, children may le for VAWA bene ts as an abused child if the child is under 21, unmarried, and has been abused by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident parent.
To request VAWA protections, an applicant must pro- vide su cient evidence to demonstrate that he or she quali es and that the abuse occurred and otherwise meet USCIS requirements. VAWA provides a con dential im- migration process that allows the victim to seek indepen- dence from his or her abuser and obtain legal status. If an immigrant (male or female) is married to a U.S. citizen or green card holder and is also the victim of domestic vio- lence, he or she can le an immigration process to receive lawful status.
As with almost all immigration lings, the U.S. Citizen- ship and Immigration Service almost guarantees the ap- plication process to be administratively challenging and constantly changing, much to the bene t of immigra- tion practitioners. However, the promise of VAWA does provide an extraordinarily bene cial lifeline to the most vulnerable members of American society. Regardless of where any particular individual falls in terms of his/her own views of the nation’s current immigration debate, our common decency mandates that we not leave individuals in situations of abuse or violence without a means of es- cape. Fortunately, the current Congress and those of past legislative sessions have agreed that maintaining the avail- ability of VAWA continues to be an important functional
hallmark of an o en dysfunctional national system.
ATTORNEY KATHRYN P. “KATIE” RUSSELL RECEIVED HER JURIS DOCTORATE, CUM LAUDE, FROM CLEVELAND MARSHALL COLLEGE OF LAW AND IS ADMITTED TO PRAC- TICE LAW IN THE STATE OF OHIO. SHE GRADUATED FROM JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSI- TY MAGNA CUM LAUDE WITH MAJORS IN HISTORY AND SPANISH. SHE IS FLUENT IN SPANISH AND STUDIED AT THE UNIVERSIDAD CENTROAMERICANA WITH THE CASA DE LA SOLIDARIDAD PROGRAM IN EL SALVADOR AND AT THE UNIVERSIDAD DEL PACFICO IN LIMA, PERU. KATIE JOINED ROBERT BROWN LLC IN 2009 AND SPECIALIZES IN RE- MOVAL DEFENSE, FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRATION, AND EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRA- TION. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.BROWNIMMIGRATION.COM.
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