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Message: The Obama Administration moves to include foreign abused women and children in asylum policy. Foreign victims of beatings and sexual abuse could be eligible for asylum in the U.S. in certain cases. During the case of a woman from Mexico, who was requesting asylum due to the abuse of her common law husband, the government carved out a clear but slim path for abused women and children from foreign countries to possibly qualify for asylum here in the U.S. The Impact of Asylum Changes This decision is extremely important in the foreigners community, for as an immigration lawyer, I receive questions day and night regarding the possibility of asylum against violence perpetrated by spouses and other immediate relatives that some times amount to extreme cruelty with the total impunity of the foreign authorities. This may be due in part because violence against the women is culturally accepted in many countries where the male power is considered superior in all aspects over the limited rights of women. Defining Immigration Law As a lawyer and women’s rights advocate, I sincerely believe that physical and sexual abuse of fragile people, mostly women and children should be counted as one of the grounds protected by the American Asylum law, which holds that people seeking the status of refugee must demonstrate a fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion or “membership of a particular group”. Sexually and physically abused women and children are part of a social group and it is time for the Immigration Law to change its previous policy that “social group” is limited to the groups previously accepted by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) previous decisions. Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) during the Bush Administration, the phenomenon of violence against women and children has received much more attention. Additionally, the level of protection given to victims of abuse is reflected in the thousands of prosecutions initiated against abusers and the total lack of mercy from the immigration authorities towards foreign aliens found guilty of a crime of domestic violence that, in my practice and experience, results in the loss of permanent residence for many legal resident aliens that have resided in this country for years, sometimes most of their lives. Asylum’s Strict Guidelines Battered women must be added as a social group entitled to the protection of the asylum laws. The government, both at the state and federal level, must continue enacting laws that serve as a deterrence to future acts of violence and must impose sanctions that will transmit the message that there is zero tolerance and no justification possible for a person who abuses his spouse and children in any way. Even if this particular group of women and children are allowed to apply for asylum, they will encounter the same harsh burden of proof with regards to evidence. The evidence must be relevant and credible to support a claim that violence against women is pervasive and that there is a societal perception that this is acceptable. Then, they must prove that the particular government in their home country is unable or unwilling to protect the victim. Finally, the victims must prove that there is nowhere in their native country where they can be safe from their abusers. Women must understand clearly that asylum is a very difficult to obtain not only for them as a new group of victims entitled to receive consideration but for all those foreigners that attempt to obtain permanent residence and protection from removal based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or “membership of a particular group”. We as immigration lawyers and advocates for immigration reform applaud the Obama Administration for taking additional measures to protect innocent victims of abuse. That has been a common problem that has resulted in thousands of deaths that could have prevented if the Government would have provided legal tools to fight the aggressor and to severely punish his horrendous actions. Spanish version Attorney Eliana Phelps is an experienced immigration attorney in California. Her law firm provides immigration services to national and international clients and has an outstanding success rate defending immigrant crime and deportation cases. See phelpsattorneys.com for more information. http://www.alllatino.net/index.php/5223/
