Immigration Law and Policy: A Woman's Struggle

Within the broader landscape of debate over American immigration policy, immigrant women often remain invisible and forgotten. Comprising nearly half of the foreign‐born adult population in the United States, immigrant women are diverse in terms of country of origin, age, education, labor force participation, and poverty level. They work tirelessly alongside immigrant men, and in some fields of employment make up the majority of the labor force. But women, particularly those who are undocumented, are often more vulnerable than their male counterparts.

In Reforming America’s Immigration Laws: A Women’s Struggle, Legal Momentum’s Senior Staff Attorney Kavitha Sreeharsha, outlines the many ways in which women’s voices must be drawn into the immigration debate. She addresses the impact of family immigration backlogs on women left behind or without status. The report identifies immigrant women’s lack of equal economic opportunity, including access to higher education and wage parity. The article elaborates on the various mechanisms by which undocumented women are exposed to more exploitation while crossing the border, at work and even in their homes. Immigrant women are, in fact, the silent victims of the broken immigration system. This report calls for comprehensive reform that considers how even facially gender-neutral laws create more hardship for immigrant women, and focused attention on the often silenced or drowned out voices of immigrant women.

Download Reforming America’s Immigration Laws: A Women’s Struggle:

Reforming America's Immigration Laws: A Woman's Struggle

Did You Know...

Women are 41% more likely to be poor than men. The gender gap is even larger among older women – they are 74% more likely to be poor than men their age.

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