Protecting immigrant women
The New York Times reports today that a law passed by the Clinton Administration to protect immigrant women and children from the fear of losing their legal immigration status after being victimized by domestic violence or involuntary servitude has yet to translate into the issuance of actual visas. Now there is a class action suit brought by thousands of women to try to get the Bush Administration to permit the issuance of these special “U” visas and allow these women and children to move on with their lives and seek employment, education, and other benefits to aid them on the path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship. Apparently a similar federal lawsuit was filed and decided in favor of these women in 2005 but the Department of Homeland Security has yet to act, hence the need for yet another costly round of litigation.
In other immigration news, the ACLU has filed suit in Texas to challenge the living conditions of children in these new family detention centers. Children (from babies and toddlers up through the teens) are being forced to eat their meals in ten minutes, spend hours behind bars, and participate in other aspects of “prison life” as a result of their parents’ illegal immigration. This is a departure from past policy which allowed families to be released into the U.S. pending USCIS hearings or kept a parent in jail while the children went with family members. While I can see the benefit of the child staying with its parent(s), especially in cases where the family is seeking political asylum and may spend months in jail, it seems to me that the living conditions could be improved for these poor children. There is no need to further victimize these innocent little kids. I’m glad the ACLU is standing up for their rights and exposing the realities behind the pretty picture that USCIS paints of these “family-friendly facilities”.
