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Congressional Testimony: Emerging Issues in Ending Violence Against Immigrant Women

In February 2011, Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva invited Leslye Orloff, Senior Vice President and Director of Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program, to testify at an ad hoc Congressional Hearing regarding the Violence Against Women Act's immigration provisions.

Legal Momentum led the effort to pass the federal Violence Against Women Act in 1994. Congress reauthorizes this vital legislation every five years and Legal Momentum works in coalition to see that each reauthorization increases rights and resources for victims. The Immigrant Women Program was instrumental in developing provisions for immigrant victims of violence in the 2000 and 2005 VAWA reauthorizations.

Ms. Orloff's testimony heralded VAWA’s achievements for immigrant victims of violence. She noted that over 40,000 immigrant victims of violence have received VAWA self-petitions – a remedy that allows survivors of domestic violence to file for legal immigration status without relying on an abusive spouse or parent – since the provision was enacted with Legal Momentum’s advocacy in 2000.

Yet barriers to safety and security for immigrant victims remain. This testimony emphasizes that the Department of Homeland Security and local police departments must be recognize and enforce self-petitions and other VAWA immigration remedies. 

The link to Ms. Orloff's full testimony is below. The video of her testimony is also available on YouTube.