[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1373-E1374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PROTECTING IMMIGRANT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 21, 1998

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, in 1994, we passed the Violence Against 
Women Act (VAWA) with overwhelming support. VAWA contained provisions 
that were vital to the protection of abused immigrant women and 
children. We passed this legislation to ensure that abused spouses and 
children could flee violent homes, gain legal protections from ongoing 
violence, and cooperate in the criminal prosecution of their abusers.
  Prior to VAWA the system ensured that abusive U.S. citizens and 
permanent residents maintained complete control over the immigration 
status of their spouses. Battered women could not file for lawful 
permanent residency without the assistance of their abusive spouses, 
and many abusive spouses maintained this control by refusing to 
participate in the petitioning process. Having no other options, these 
abused immigrant women and their children were forced to stay in 
violent homes enduring abuse and unable to appeal to law enforcement 
agencies, shelters, or courts for protection.
  The immigration provisions of VAWA helped to solve these problems by 
giving battered immigrant women and their children some control over 
their own immigration status. VAWA created a self-petitioning procedure 
for battered immigrants that did not require the cooperation of their 
abusive spouses. Self-petitioners could acquire their green cards while 
remaining in the U.S. where our laws protected them. VAWA also allowed 
those abused immigrant women who had been placed in deportation 
proceedings to file for suspension of deportation, regardless of their 
marital status, so long as they had resided in the United States for 
three years.
  However, subsequent legislation, including the Illegal Immigration 
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) of 1996 and the 
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) of 1997, 
erased some of the protections we created for battered immigrant women 
and their children.
  Expiration of Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(INA) forces many battered immigrant women, with approved INS 
petitions, to leave the U.S. to obtain their green cards. Expiration of 
Section 245(i) is contradictory to the intent of VAWA. Those women who 
have approved VAWA self-petitions have already shown INS that they 
would face ``extreme hardship'' by being forced to leave the country. 
Traveling outside the United States deprives these women of the 
protections provided by legislation, court orders, custody decrees, and 
law enforcement agencies.

[[Page E1374]]

Many battered women would be separated from their children for an 
undetermined amount of time if forced to leave the U.S. Often these 
women are the sole caretakers of their children. There may be no one 
with whom the child could stay or they would, might remain in the 
custody of the abuser. If a battered mother leaves the country, taking 
her children with her, she could lose custody of the children to the 
abuser under the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA). Forcing 
these battered immigrant women and mothers to leave the country places 
their lives and the lives of their children in danger.
  We should reinstate our protection of battered immigrant women by 
allowing them to adjust their status to lawful permanent residency 
while in the U.S. in the same manner we allow immediate relatives of 
U.S. citizens to adjust their status. This provision would provide 
battered immigrant women and their children with approved VAWA self-
petitions to acquire their green cards while remaining in the U.S.
  Other immigration provisions drastically altered battered women's 
access to VAWA's suspension of deportation/cancellation of removal in 
two ways: it changed the way INS counts the number of years an 
immigrant has been in the U.S. and applies these changes retroactively 
to cases already filed, and it places a ``cap'' on the number of 
immigrants who are allowed to receive green cards through suspension of 
deportation/cancellation of removal.
  To apply for suspension of deportation/cancellation of removal, a 
battered immigrant or child must have been in the U.S. for three years. 
Recent changes only count an immigrant's time in the U.S. up to the 
moment that INS becomes aware of their presence, regardless of how long 
they remain in the United States for deportation proceedings to 
conclude. This is especially detrimental to battered women immigrants 
because in most cases the abuser controls all mail and telephone 
correspondence addressed to the battered spouse. These battered 
immigrants may never know that INS had placed them in deportation 
proceedings. Suspension of deportation/cancellation of removal is an 
important tool for these women who are unable to file self-petitions 
for permanent residence because their self-petitions have been 
sabotaged by spouses who divorce them or who report them to the INS. 
Suspension of deportation/cancellation of removal is often the only 
remedy available to battered immigrant women in this situation.
  We must restore the original manner of counting years in the U.S. for 
battered immigrants only. Additionally, we should stop the retroactive 
application of this new counting and reopen old deportation cases for 
VAWA-eligible battered immigrants.
  Four years ago we passed VAWA strongly believing that battered 
immigrant women should have access to legal protections, be able to 
flee violent homes, and control their own immigration status and lives. 
Let us stand by that position.

                          ____________________