Building Collaborations to Help Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault

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Building Collaborations to Help Immigrant
Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault
Trafficking

• Jeff Joseph
• Bill Leonard
• Gail Pendleton
• Amber Tafoya

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Goals

• Identify who you can help
• Identify what you can do
• Identify who you will work with (or need to work
  with)

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Understanding the Immigrant ExperienceGoals/Objec
tives

• Enhance empathy with noncitizens
• Identify barriers to justice
• Articulate realities that impede access

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Questions

• Is being undocumented a crime?
• Can undocumented apply to work?
• Can undocumented apply to be US citizens?
• Who can apply for LPR?

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Realities

• Language accessibility
• Information/misinformation
• Potential for deportation
• Experience in the home country
• Economic barriers
• Cultural and religious pressure

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How Immigration System Works

• DHS Department of Homeland Security
• CIS Citizenship and Immigration Services
• Administrative applications for benefits
• ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Detaining and removing those inside US
• CBP Customs and Border Protection
• Airports, border, 100 miles inside border

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What Congress Has Done

• Special routes to immigration status
• Access to public benefits
• Access to legal services
• Access to services (LEP)

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Special Options

• Special Immigrant Juveniles
• Conditional Residence Waiver
• Self-petitioning Cancellation
• U T Visas
• Self-petitioning for parents of US citizens
• Work authorization for nonimmigrant spouses

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Human Trafficking

• The term ''severe forms of trafficking in
  persons'' means
• (A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act
  is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in
  which the person induced to perform such act has
  not attained 18 years of age or
• (B) the recruitment, harboring, transportation,
  provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or
  services, through the use of force, fraud, or
  coercion for the purpose of subjection to
  involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or
  slavery.
• (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention
  Act of 2000 can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vaw
  o/laws/vawo2000/)

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Human Trafficking

• Whoever knowingly recruits, harbors, transports,
  provides, or obtains by any means, any person for
  labor or services in peonage, slavery,
  involuntary servitude or forced labor. . .
• US Criminal Law
• OR
• Anyone who is being manipulated or forced to work
  against his/her will or provide services for the
  benefit of someone else (involuntary servitude)

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The Road to Immigration Status

• Self-petitioning for domestic violence victims
• Created by VAWA 1994
• Self-Petitioner must show
• Battery or extreme cruelty to self or child
• Good moral character
• Citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or
  parent
• Married in good faith

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What You Can Do Take 1

• What can you do?
• Who else do you need?
• How will you work together?

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U Purpose

• To strengthen the ability of law enforcement to
  investigate and prosecute crimes listed
• To provide humanitarian relief to crime victims
  and their family members

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Requirements for a U Visa

• Substantial physical or mental abuse from
  criminal activity
• Possesses information concerning the criminal
  activity
• Law enforcement certification
• Is being, has been or is likely to be helpful
  in the investigation or prosecution of

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U Visas for crime victims

• Certificate from justice systems
• Has been, is being or is likely to be helpful in
• Investigation or prosecution
• Substantial physical/mental abuse
• FROM

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U Visa Crimes

• Rape
• Torture
• Trafficking
• Incest
• Domestic violence
• Sexual assault
• Abusive sexual contact
• Prostitution
• Sexual exploitation
• Female genital mutilation
• Being held hostage
• Peonage
• Involuntary servitude
• Slave trade
• Kidnapping

• Abduction
• Unlawful criminal restraint
• False imprisonment
• Blackmail
• Extortion
• Manslaughter
• Murder
• Felonious assault
• Witness tampering
• Obstruction of justice
• Perjury
• or attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation, to
  commit any of the above mentioned crimes

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Who can certify?

• Police officers
• Prosecutor
• Judge
• DHS Officer
• State or Federal Agency Employee

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• Any credible evidence (except MUST have
  certification)
• Family members can get visas too
• Adult victims Children and spouses
• Child victims Parents, children, spouses and
  unmarried child sibilings (application date)

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How will this help?

• Examples of people youve met?
• Who needs to be involved?

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What You Can Do Take 2

• What U crime?
• Who will help get/prep each?
• Certification on helpfulness in
  investigaton/prosecution of what crime(s)?
• Substantial mental/physical abuse
• Applicants declaration
• Who else do you need?

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Audit Best Practices

• Language accessibility
• Records/Evidence
• Predominant Aggressor
• Strangulation
• Victim advocates
• DV training
• Policies
• Review team

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Building Collaborations

• What collaborations do you already have?
• What works and doesnt in building and
  maintaining them?
• Whos missing from your tables?

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Building Collaborations Practice Pointers

• identify common ground
• get "in their shoes
• examine your assumptions
• acknowledge differing priorities
• try to understand their concerns

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• respect be clear on confidentiality privilege
• sort out who does what BEFORE crises
• Formalize responsibilities

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• ask for institutional commitment
• do joint fundraising
• create accountability put it in writing (MOUs,
  protocols)

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Action Plan Report Back

• 1 thing youll do?
• What will you do together?

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Resources

• DV/SA/Trafficking Resources (FVPF)
• www.endabuse.org, immigrant women
• Family law, public benefits (IWP of LM)
• www.legalmomentum.org, immigrant womens project
• Immigration TA (Asista Project)
• questions_at_asistaonline.org