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Author:  Maureen Hannah.


Source: Volume 09, Number 02, Fall 2016 , pp.3-6(4)




Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly

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Abstract: 

Veronica T. Thronson, Carole Angel, Soraya Fata, Rocio Molina, Benish Anver, Kalli Wells, and Leslye Orloff have composed the equivalent of a “best practices” guidebook for legal personnel and DV advocates who are doing their best to serve and protect what is perhaps the most vulnerable population of survivors existing in our country: undocumented immigrant women. Many of these women have courageously fled their native countries to escape domestically violent relationships, often with children in tow, arriving in the U.S. with strong determination but possessing very few resources, especially those required to help them establish their right to remain in this country. Many, of course, speak little or no English; the luckier ones are able rely, to some degree, on the language ability and financial resources, however meager, of family members or acquaintances who arrived here before they did. Some immigrant females have married American men with the hope of establishing a more stable life here in the U.S., only to be confronted with the reality that their protector is actually a perpetrator. These women, married to abusive husbands who are U.S. citizens, live in constant fear of their partners’ threats to reveal their undocumented immigration status to authorities, which effectively keeps her captive and constantly living on the threshold of disaster. This rigorously researched, finely detailed information, while always of importance to advocates working with immigrant clients, is especially timely given what is taking place in the current political arena. Family and Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly Volume 9, Number 2 (Fall 2016) and Volume 9, Number 3 (Winter 2017) are devoted to “Winning Custody Cases for Immigrant Survivors.” The two issues, Guest Edited by Leslye E. Orloff, Adjunct Professor and Director, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, American University, Washington College of Law, and Veronica T. Thronson, Clinical Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law, are being published in a combined print edition, cover dated Fall 2016/Winter 2017. The combined print version is available for purchase at http://www.civicresearchinstitute.com/order/FIPV-0902-Order-Form.pdf. The double issue is being published simultaneously online in two issues. Volume 9, Number 2 includes the first six articles: The Clash of Laws, Cultures, Custody and Parental Rights; Maria L.’s Story; Serving Limited English Proficient Immigrant Victims; Identifying Forms of Immigration Relief Available for Battered Immigrant Victims; Preparing Immigrant Victims for Encounters with DHS; and Seeking Protection Orders for Immigrant Victims. Volume 9, Number 3 concludes the two-part series with six articles: Utilizing VAWA Confidentiality Protections in Family Court Proceedings; Obtaining Custody of Children for Battered Immigrants; Providing Economic Relief for Immigrant Victims; Protecting Parent Rights When the Immigrant Parent is Detained or Deported; Representing Undocumented Children Who Have Been Abused, Neglected, or Abandoned (Special Immigrant Juvenile Status); and a Conclusion. The material was updated as recently as March 31, 2017, to reflect recent White House executive orders regarding undocumented immigrants and refugees, and changes likely to result in HHS and ICE policies, procedures, and enforcement.

Keywords: Winning Custody Cases for Immigrant Survivors

Affiliations:  1: Sienna College of Law.

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