Every day the news is replete with stories showing the immigration system is badly broken. Amid the dysfunction -- the approximately 12 million unauthorized aliens living in the shadows; the scores of American families torn apart by deportation; and the inability of American businesses to bring in workers to fill shortage occupations -- there are a few bright spots within the immigration system that actually work. One is the Violence Against Women Act enacted by Congress seventeen years ago, in a bipartisan effort to protect victims of domestic violence, stalking, sex crimes, and human trafficking.
VAWA stands as a shining example of what Congress can do when it leaves politics at the door of the Capitol building, rolls up its collective sleeves, and gets to work for the good of the American people. While not perfect, VAWA is among the few provisions of the immigration law that all Americans can be proud of because it keeps American families safe, secure and together, and honors America's commitment to stand as a beacon of hope and freedom to deserving immigrants in need of shelter.
But now VAWA is in danger. It has become the latest victim of the vicious partisanship that plagues Washington.
It started a couple of weeks ago when the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), put VAWA front and center in what can only be described as an attack on battered immigrants and victims of violence. The Judiciary Committee, discarding nearly 20 years of bi-partisan commitment to VAWA, reported out H.R. 4970 with ugly provisions that would roll back the law's steadfast commitment to the protection of women, children, and elderly victims of crimes. Even with amendments to the House bill that the sponsors filed, the bill will unnecessarily curtail important protections for battered immigrants.
Most egregious is the requirement that immigration officers consider any and all evidence provided by the abuser, even if it is uncorroborated and the only source of negative information. Abusers frequently use the immigration process as a tool of abuse, threatening to report them to immigration authorities and refusing to help their spouses apply for lawful status. VAWA removes that tool, allowing victims of domestic violence to apply for lawful status on their own. Taking into account an abuser's side of the story is unworkable -- after all, what abuser is going to provide useful, credible information when he has already done all that he can to prevent his victim from obtaining the legal status for which she is eligible.
And that's not all. There are other amendments which do heavy damage to VAWA's protections for victims, including one that closes off the opportunity for victims to apply for green cards -- subjecting them to deportation for reporting a crime, and makes it harder for victims of domestic violence and other crimes to qualify for protective visas. In order to qualify for a U visa, law enforcement must sign off certifying the victim's helpfulness. Under H.R. 4970, only victims who obtain these certifications while the investigation or prosecution is on-going would qualify, leaving many victims vulnerable to further abuse and violence.
Take Julia -- a victim of repeated physical and sexual violence during her marriage. Her husband, Raul, repeatedly raped, punched, and strangled Julia during drunken rages. After a particularly serious attack, Julia found the courage to call the police. The police arrested Raul and, with Julia's help, Raul pled guilty and was deported to his home country -- Julia's home country also. It was not until after his conviction that Julia learned about U visas. Today, she and her children are protected from deportation. If H.R. 4970 passed, Julia would have been ineligible for a U-visa because the prosecution already occurred, and she would be facing deportation back to her abuser.
Last night, as the VAWA bill was considered and passed by the full House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the Republican leadership squandered a golden opportunity to show much needed leadership by rejecting this ugly legislation designed to do nothing more than hurt defenseless victims of domestic violence, stalking, sex crimes, and human trafficking. The Speaker, who hails from the politically critical swing state of Ohio, should have seized upon this rare opportunity to show the nation (and his state) what he and the GOP are really made of. Sadly, Boehner and the Republican House leadership turned their backs on America's families and collaborated to pass the VAWA bill in what has now become an ugly war against immigrant women and other victims of violent crime.
But amid the cowardice and betrayal that infected the House floor were 23 shining lights -- the Republicans who had the guts to defy their misguided leadership and vote to reject the bill. Knowing they will face serious political heat for doing the right thing, these members of Congress demonstrated something Speaker Boehner and his political lieutenants did not -- a steadfast commitment to women, children and all victims of violence.
Follow David Leopold on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DavidLeopold
Ah, the usual simpleminded solution that refuses to acknowledge how many working parts are involved...
Our removal system is maxed out at removing 400K a year and Congress (read, both parties) are not inclined to increase funding for more bedspace and Immigration Judges. Dockets at most Immigration Courts are so overloaded that a substantial number of aliens can expect to wait upwards of a year in between each of their hearings irrespective of the merits of their cases.
While aliens caught at the border may in some instances be quickly repatriated, most people "caught" by the various arms of the federal government must be placed into removal proceedings and become subject to the above mentioned wait times - assuming they are not in detention while waiting for their hearings they are left to their own devices pending the outcome of their case. That means that a substantial number are "free" to continue to work, drive, etc., and are trusted to show up for their next hearing.
If you don't think that system sounds the lest bit "broken" then we applaud your optimistic outlook on life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV48xLlo_JA
But we don't need to make citizens of every foreigner who is assaulted because they will make a massive scam out of it. They have of every other courtesy extended them.
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Actually .... he DID show everybody what the GOP is made of !
But he's kind of late. The rest of the repub party has been showing us what they're truly made of for about the past 3 years. Or longer !
I just read about an abuser who was deported and he came right back to the U.S.
[[But law enforcement officials vary widely in their willingness to certify victims, due to a mistaken belief that they are helping unauthorized immigrants “get green cards.”]]
Maybe we could get more cooperation from law enforcement officials and better protect victims if it were not possible to turn a U visa into a green card. It would also deter fraud or at least decrease the suspicion of fraud due to the award of a green card prize. I think a lot of people find it perverse to award green cards when you can provide the safeguard without that. Take out the green card and I think we could get more of a consensus on this issue.
Really? We pay law enforcement salaries with our tax dollars. We don't need to ask for their "cooperation" it's the job we pay them to do. Law enforcement understand this.
Also, you just don't get it as far as the U visa goes. If you deport people for reporting crime, guess what? They won't report crime, and criminals are free to commit more crime. Law enforcement understands this too.
All you have to do is read what he wrote over again 2 -3 times and it will become crystal clear that he made it up.
He demonstrated, as he has continually done, exactly what he and the GOP are made of. They are all bullies and cowards and are unwilling to do anything at all for the right reasons. Any progress that is made is despite them, not because of them.
http://cherokeetribune.com/
Yet more evidence that some in Congress are only too happy to throw the most vulnerable among us to the wolves.
Non-citizens who are here legally are already protected. In fact, you're not describing non-citizens - you are describing foreign nationals who are here illegally. LEGAL status here cannot be used against legal immigrants - so you're trying to imply that this is about non-citizens (legal immigrants as well as illegal aliens) when it's really about illegal aliens.
People who want to be protected under our laws need to respect and follow the laws here. When a drug dealer gets ripped off during a drug sale or a child predator gets harassed for preying on children, they don't have protections put into place by Congress that excuse/overlook/reward their lawbreaking behaviors. There's no reason for illegal aliens to be protected for their lawbreaking behaviors either.
I am tired of those who assume that every single person who jumps the fence or overstays their visa is somehow the epitome of evil, and that they are so intrinsically wicked that they are deserving of no consideration or compassion whatsoever.
We survived previous mass migrations here, we'll survive this one too and be a better country for it.