[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 165 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2615]]


 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 
                           2006 THROUGH 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, December 17, 2005

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Violence 
Against Women Reauthorization Act. All women and families should be 
free from fears of violence, but immigrant women face particular 
problems in confronting this crisis. That is why I am so pleased that 
provisions of my bill, H.R. 3188, the Immigrant Victims of Violence 
Protection Act, are included in this legislation.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  December 19, 2005 Page E 2615 under EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS the 
following appeared: BORDER PROTECTION ANTI-TERRORISM, AND ILLEGAL 
IMMIGRATION CONTROL ACT OF 2005 SPEECH OF HON. JANICE D. 
SCHAKOWSKY OF ILLINOIS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FRIDAY, 
December 16, 2005 The House in Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4437) to 
amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen 
enforcement of the immigration laws, to enhance border security, 
and for other purposes: Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman
  
  The online version should be corrected to read: DEPARTMENT OF 
JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2006 
THROUGH 2009 SPEECH OF HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY OF ILLINOIS IN 
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SATURDAY, December 17, 2005 Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  These immigrant provisions reflect hard bipartisan work of many 
members of Congress. I especially thank Representatives John Conyers, 
Jr. and Sheila Jackson-Lee for their leadership on this issue. While 
VAWA 1994 and 2000 made significant progress in reducing violence 
against immigrant women, there are still many women and children whose 
lives are in danger today. Many VAWA-eligible victims of domestic 
violence, sexual assault, child abuse or trafficking are still being 
deported.
  Congress must remain vigilant in the fight to preserve basic due 
process rights--the right for immigrants to have a hearing before being 
deported and the right for battered immigrants to seek protection under 
VAWA. I want to highlight three concerns that this bill addresses: 
stopping the practice of immigration agents arresting and deporting 
battered immigration victims who may be eligible for VAWA relief; 
allowing the VAWA unit within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
to use its expertise and specialized training to grant, deny and revoke 
deferred action; and encouraging DHS to use its existing parole 
authority to allow approved VAWA self-petitioners who are abroad to 
enter the U.S. and receive VAWA relief.
  A battered immigrant woman was arrested at the steps of a courthouse 
and detained by immigration enforcement officers. She was on the way to 
a custody hearing, and the officers had acted upon a tip by her abuser 
who wanted her deported. She was in fact an approved VAWA self-
petitioner and should have been neither detained nor deported. I am 
very concerned about this and other reported cases where immigrant 
victims are arrested by immigration enforcement officers at a domestic 
violence shelter or at a protection order courtroom. This undermines 
the purpose of VAWA, which is to protect battered immigrant victims.
  Section 825(c) of this bill establishes a system to verify that 
removal proceedings are not based on information provided by the 
abuser. When any part of an enforcement action was taken at certain 
places, DHS must disclose these facts and certify that such an 
enforcement action was not based on the information provided by the 
abuser. The list of locations includes: a domestic violence shelter, a 
rape crisis center, and a courthouse if the alien is appearing in 
connection with a protection order or child custody case. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must stop relying on information provided 
by an abuser to track down, arrest and deport an immigrant victim or to 
deny an immigration case she has filed because of the information 
provided by her abuser. This would protect battered victims from unjust 
immigration enforcement actions and allow them to protect their 
children and themselves from further abuse.
  Currently, a specially-trained VAWA unit exists within DHS that 
adjudicates all VAWA immigration cases nationally. Because ICE officers 
often do not have the expertise and training in domestic violence that 
this VAWA unit does, the VAWA unit is best equipped to assure 
consistency of VAWA adjudications, effectively identify eligible cases 
and deny fraudulent cases. This unit should have exclusive jurisdiction 
to grant, deny and revoke deferred action. Maintaining a specially-
trained unit with consistent and stable staffing and management is also 
critically important to the effective adjudication of VAWA cases.
  Since VAWA 2000, DHS has been using its parole power under INA 
Section 212(d) to foster reunification of approved VAWA cancellation of 
removal applicants with their children who would be otherwise stranded 
abroad with no protection from retaliation from the victim's abusive 
spouse. For example, a daughter was raped by her father; who was a U.S. 
military officer stationed in Germany. He was prosecuted in a military 
tribunal for his crime, and she was approved for VAWA protections, but 
she did not have a way to enter the United States. In this case, DHS 
was able to use its parole power to allow her to leave her abusive 
father in Germany and find a safe home in the United States. Too often, 
victims have the ability to apply for VAWA immigration protection from 
abroad, but once their case has been approved are not consistently able 
to enter the United States where they can receive protection from 
ongoing abuse. I strongly encourage the Department of Homeland Security 
to use its authority to grant parole to bring into the U.S. approved 
VAWA petitioners and their children, thereby offering them protection 
until they can file for adjustment of status to lawful permanent 
residency under VAWA.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the life-saving provisions in 
VAWA Reauthorization to help protect this vulnerable population. This 
is an opportunity to eliminate some of the major obstacles immigrant 
crime survivors face in achieving safety and legal immigration status.

                          ____________________