The Violence Against Women Act & Immigration Fraud
"The time for reform is NOW!"

Title VIII of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) addresses the needs of battered immigrants. The plight of abused immigrants should concern us all. But most people are unaware how Title VIII of VAWA is widely used to allow, even encourage immigration fraud.

VAWA Facilitates Immigration Fraud
* Allows an immigrant to self-petition for a green card based on claims of domestic violence, without providing any hard proof of abuse
* Provides free legal services to immigrants who merely claim abuse
* Eliminates traditional standards of proof; Requires only one-sided proof of abuse, such as a personal statement by the immigrant, or an Ex Parte Restraining Order which requires no evidence to receive
* Bans all evidence by the alleged abuser, even if it shows fraud or illegal behavior by the immigrant; A US citizen merely accused of abuse is classified as a "prohibited source"
* Overrides deportation hearings when an immigrant claims to be a victim of spousal abuse
* Allows unlawful or illegal aliens, often with criminal backgrounds, to qualify for the self-petitioning process
* Removes any responsibility from the self-petitioner for bringing false claims of abuse
* Educates immigrants on how to take advantage of these VAWA provisions
* Centralizes a decision-making body for all self-petitions to the Vermont Service Center, staffed with VAWA trained personnel acting under VAWA instructions

American Women Are Being Abused By VAWA
The Violence Against Women Act was originally passed in 1994 as national legislation to provide services to battered and abused women. Now, American women are having VAWA used against them by their immigrant spouses. VAWA has opened the door for a woman's immigrant spouse to bypass the immigration laws of the U.S. and all immigration fraud safeguards applicable to other immigrants by merely claiming to be a victim of abuse.
* Julie married a man from Czechoslovakia while living abroad. They eventually moved to the U.S. and settled in MA. Once her husband received notice that he had been scheduled for his green card interview, he announced his intentions to divorce her. Julie contacted the USCIS to withdraw her petition. Her husband had no legal standing and was subject to deportation. Investigations revealed Julie’s husband had an arrest warrant out of Germany for criminal fraud, that he was involved in bank fraud in multiple countries, and that he had fraudulently used multiple Social Security numbers. Her husband filed a self-petition as an abused spouse under VAWA, which in turn stopped deportation proceedings, and he was eventually granted a green card.
* Cheryl in NJ married a man from Columbia. After less than a year of marriage, she found out that her he was gay, and she was being used for immigration purposes. When Cheryl took steps to end the marriage and her support of the immigration process, her husband filed a self-petition with the USCIS as a victim of spousal abuse. Her ex-husband is now living with the man he was in love with all along, an Assistant District Attorney in New York.

Safeguards, False Allegations, & Due Process
In general, VAWA provides needed safeguards to an abused immigrant spouse. The immigration provisions of VAWA prevent immigration law from being used by an abusive citizen or LPR spouse as a tool to prevent an abused immigrant spouse from reporting abuse or leaving the abusive relationship. These safeguards assume that the immigrant spouse is indeed abused. What these safeguards fail to consider is the possibility that the immigrant spouse is being untruthful. VAWA provides NO safeguards to prevent or even deter an immigrant spouse from lying about spousal abuse. In fact, VAWA provides almost unconditional legal and political immunity to any person who claims abuse regardless of his/her legal status, previous criminal activities, or personal agenda for coming to the U.S. Under the cover of this immunity, VAWA facilitates these immigrants to become new citizens of the U.S. by fraudulent means.

The most fundamental principle of the American criminal justice system is the right to due process. Under VAWA immigration provisions, an American citizen accused of partner abuse has no legal standing to refute the claims of the immigrant spouse with the US government. In fact, the accused may not have even been informed of the allegation! Safeguards need to be added so true abuse victims are protected without taking away the rights of an alleged abuser. Due process includes providing every American citizen the opportunity to refute a false allegation of spousal abuse, wherever that claim may be made.

The Need For Reform
It is clear that the current system is flawed and needs significant reforms. Immigration provisions within VAWA are compromising the integrity of the U.S. immigration system. Marriage-based immigration fraud must be made much more difficult by closing the immigration loophole in the 2010 re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

What is the impetus to make these immigration related changes to VAWA?
* According to a recent report by SAVE, VAWA funded immigration fraud costs US taxpayers $170 million per year. To see this report, please click here
* Real victims of abuse are hurt because widespread false allegations of abuse inevitably cast doubt on the validity of real victims' claims.
* Resources intended to help true victims of abuse are being wasted and used by people using them for show.
* Current provisions allow an illegal immigrant to become legal by claiming abuse.
* Honest American citizens are being subjected to unfounded allegations of abuse that have led to emotional and financial ruin, just so an immigrant can get a green card.
* Immigrants who falsely claim abuse have more rights and protections than law-abiding American citizens!

PLEASE DO NOT CONSIDER THE 2010 REAUTHORIZTION OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT UNTIL THIS IMMIGRATION LOOPHOLE IS CLOSED FOREVER!

Voice of American Immigration Fraud Victims has a plan for the changes that are needed to VAWA to close the immigration loophole. We are trying to meet with as many legislative aides as we can to discuss these changes.

For information regarding our proposed changes, please contact us:
Voice of American Immigration Fraud Victims
www.immigrationfraudvictims.com
info@immigrationfraudvictims.us