Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

Notes
Representing Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence 343
The author would like to thank Sanctuary interns Alix Lerner and Carla
Martinez for research assistance and the compilation of Appendix A.
1. While the remedies discussed are available for domestic violence victims
of either gender, this article assumes that the victim is female and the
abuser is male.
2. See Appendix A for information on the New York City Domestic Violence
Hotline and other services available to immigrant domestic violence
victims.
3. For example, SAKHI for South Asian Women offers outreach, education
and social assistance to domestic violence victims from Bangladesh, India,
Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the South Asian Diaspora,
http://www.sakhi.com (accessed Aug. 12, 2006).
4. See Appendix A for a list of organizations that assist immigrant domestic
violence victims.
5. US law requires that both parents appear in person to apply for the passport
of a child under the age of 14, or the non-applying parent must execute an
affidavit giving her consent. 22 USC § 213; 22 CFR § 51.27(b). While
intended to safeguard minors from being kidnapped abroad, it does not
protect children over the age of 14 or children who carry a foreign
passport. Nor are there safeguards to ensure that an abused spouse will not
be coerced into executing the requisite affidavit.
6. For example, in Saudi Arabia, if a custody dispute arises between a foreign
citizen woman and her citizen husband, the husband is legally able to
prevent their children from leaving the country. US Department of State,
Country Conditions Report on Human Rights Practices for 2005, “Saudi
Arabia” (2006), http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61698.htm (last
updated Aug. 12, 2006).
7. The Immigration Act of 1990 first introduced a waiver for conditional
residents who were subject to battery or extreme cruelty. Immigration Act
of 1990, Pub. L. 101-649, 104 Stat. 4978 (Nov. 29, 1990). As discussed
below in the section “Removal of Conditions on Residence,” page 320, this
“battered spouse waiver” applies to a very limited category of domestic
violence victims. In response, in 1994 Congress passed the Violence
Against Women Act, which afforded protections to broader classes of
domestic violence victims. Violence Against Women Act of 1994, Pub. L.