Congress Attacks Immigrant Women Who Are Victims of Abuse
The oligarchs’ “War on Women” has added a campaign against immigrant women who are victims of abuse by their husbands and boyfriends.
First passed by the U.S. Congress in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has provided significant funds for investigating and prosecuting violent crimes against women.
It has also required that anybody convicted of these crimes must make restitution to the victim. And in some cases it has allowed women to sue for damages when local officials chose not to prosecute the crime.
Congress reauthorized the act in 2000 and again in 2005, when it added special protection for immigrant victims.
“Abusers frequently use immigration status as a weapon against their undocumented victims by threatening to have the victim deported or refusing to complete an application for [their legal] status,” explains Mony Ruiz-Velasco of the National Immigration Justice Center.
“A VAWA self-petition allows a victim of violence to apply for lawful status on her own behalf [to obtain a U-visa], without relying on her abusive spouse,” she says — “if she can show that she has been a victim of violence at the hands of her husband who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.”
Now suddenly in 2012, the VAWA reauthorization has hit a brick wall over the issue of protections for immigrant women.
Prior reauthorizations always broadened the law’s scope, but the present House version of the law would reverse this, and instead passage of the bill for reauthorization, HR4970, would destroy victims’ rights.
“HR4970 eliminates important confidentiality protections that are critical to ensure the victims’ safety,” says Ruiz-Velasco. Instead “Immigration officials would notify abusers that the victim is seeking protection from the abuse,” she explains.
“This is particularly dangerous for victims who are still living with their abusers or have children,” says Ruiz-Velasco. “Many immigrant victims have very limited options to leave an abusive situation until they obtain legal status.”
“To seek protection, the victim will also [be forced to] reveal her whereabouts — even if she managed to escape.”
These provisions go directly against the idea of protecting victims of domestic violence, and they destroy the essence of the law in relation to immigrant women.
In May 2012, the House passed HR4970 by a vote of 222 to 205, but the Senate has a different version, so the two proposed laws will go to a conference in Congress to try to agree on one version.
The House version of the bill is part of what appears to be a general “war on women,” attacking them in harsh new ways.
As well, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says that as president he would end funding for Planned Parenthood, the almost century-old non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services.
When one Republican presidential candidate said he opposed all birth control, and the rest took up the attack, news commentators began speaking of a “War on Women.”
Why are women — particularly immigrant women — finding themselves the focus of sharp attacks by American politicians?
The present attacks on women are more than just the usual divide and conquer. They have a new ferocity that makes it clear something new is happening.
As the economic system collapses, the corporations and oligarchs are attacking the rights of broad sections of people to attempt to blunt our struggle against deportation, abuse, and discrimination.
Immigrant women are a leading force in that struggle — and the broader struggle for survival. The economic oligarchs know that, and they are counter-attacking with fury.
