Tahirih’s clients have historically been faced with threats of arrest and deportation from their abusers, but lately these women, who have a right to legal status, are caught in the crossfire of increased activities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Critical legislation would help counteract the severe “chilling effect” that exists due to immigrant victims’ fear and confusion about what treatment they can expect from police—deterring crime-reporting and help-seeking, hindering law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, and undermining public safety for us all.

Long-awaited regulations that govern the process by which survivors of certain serious crimes and human trafficking may apply to become lawful permanent residents went into effect Jan. 12, 2009.

Over the course of four days in September 2008, then-US Attorney General Michael Mukasey opened the door for the Board of Immigration Appeals to fundamentally alter a woman’s ability to claim asylum in the United States based on gender-based persecution.

I-VAWA offers women like Naeema—who survived a vicious acid attack at the hands of her husbandÔhope.

The Government Accountability Office released a report in August 2008 citing widespread gaps in federal agencies’ implementation and enforcement of IMBRA.

Jeanne Smoot, Director of Public Policy, received the 2008 Agent of Change Award from the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.