Violence Against Women Act: A non-partisan issue no more

[J.E.D]

Reauthorizing the VAWA used to be a non-controversial event. The House GOP has decided to make it an issue.

GOP's Violence Against Women Act Would Open Up Undocumented Victims To More Abuse

Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is typically a bipartisan affair lacking in contention. This year, however, Republicans are pressing for significant changes that would weaken protections for victims of domestic violence, arguing that the current law is being taken advantage of by undocumented immigrants looking for legal citizenship.

In 1994, VAWA addressed a problem faced by abused immigrant women who are married to citizens or legal residents. In some cases, husbands would use their control over their victims' immigration status as a tool of abuse, refusing to sign the proper paperwork or threatening to revoke it. The act created a "self-petitioning" process that allows such women to confidentially apply for protected immigration status on their own. Protections for immigrant women have been strengthened in subsequent reauthorizations of the bill.

That process is managed by a specific branch of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services based in Vermont, where officials are highly trained in secrecy and in dealing with domestic violence situations. Extreme precautions are taken to assure that the victim's identity or action is not revealed to the abuser, for obvious reasons.

The Republican bill would eliminate that confidentiality and require women to go to the closest immigration office. It would allow the officer, not specifically trained in domestic violence response, to reach out to and inform the abusive partner that the alleged victim is applying for immigration status.

House Republicans say that some women have taken advantage of the confidentiality by fraudulently claiming abuse to acquire residency status. Victims who are not committing fraud, however, will now be exposed to retaliatory violence. What's more, most undocumented immigrants prefer to operate under the government's radar, and prefer as little contact with federal immigration authorities as possible. It's not obvious that embarking on an elaborate fraud that involves these authorities is the most attractive option for undocumented immigrants already in the country.

Persuading victims of domestic violence to seek protection can often be a daunting challenge, advocates say, and the new House rules would only make it that much more difficult.