Report domestic violence, risk deportation?

Broadsheet has the unfortunate news that an amendment may be tacked on to the immigration bill that would make women’s immigration status known to federal authorities if they report domestic violence to local police.
Currently the Violence Against Women Act protects women by preventing local law enforcement from disclosing immigration status to the feds. But this amendment would essentially junk that portion of VAWA in the name of facilitating “information sharing between federal and local law enforcement officials related to an individual’s immigration status,” as the amendment’s authors, Republican Senators Norm Coleman and Pete Domenici, put it. Broadsheet reports,

“This is an extraordinary attempt to punish the undocumented immigrants in our country,” said Olga Vives, NOW’s executive vice president, in a phone call with Broadsheet just now. “Their lives are at stake here, in particular those women who are dependent on the immigration status of their partners. For victims of domestic abuse, this is a double whammy.”

Immigrant women are more likely to face additional language and cultural barriers to reporting domestic violence and accessing services. They are more likely to be isolated and abused economically, and many of their abusers use deportation as a threat. So without the special protections in VAWA, it’s a safe assumption that these women would be even less likely to report domestic violence
NOW has a detailed letter on why this amendment is bad news, and also an action item so you can ask your Senator to say NO.