Since 1994, more than 30,000 immigrant women married to U.S. citizens have been granted visas under the Violence Against Women Act. If these women entered the United States illegally, however, their ability to petition for a green card and to gain permanent citizenship has recently come under question. The department of Homeland Security is reconsidering its policy of allowing immigrant spouses to stay in the US when their abusers refuse to help them obtain legal status. Immigrant women are often lured into the country by false promises of assistance with the complicated process only to find themselves victims of intimate violence with little or no safety net. Living in constant fear of deportation, often with children who are U.S. citizens, immigrant women have depended upon VAWA visas for support in an otherwise hostile political climate.
Call your Senators and Members of Congress and encourage them to contact DHS by sending letters to Emilio T. Gonzales, Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Tell Homeland Security that VAWA visas are here to stay by writing to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528. For more information check out Legal Momentum, a great resource for info on immigrant women and protections under VAWA.
"I'm not familiar with the Act," Romney replied.
see The Washington Post 01/07/08 for the full gruesome story.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/07/romney_draws_a_blank_on_violen_1.html
Posted by: Zoe | January 09, 2008 at 11:31 PM