Funds to aid undocumented victims of abuse

For some women who are victims of domestic violence or abuse in Yuma County, the option to go to the police for protection against the perpetrator means they could end up getting deported.

“A lot of undocumented domestic violence victims are sort of getting caught in the middle,” said Alma Montes de Oca, director of the Asylum Program of Arizona with Catholic Social Services (CSS).

In an effort to get protection for abuse victims who cooperate with law enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women recently awarded a $338,000 grant to CSS of Southern Arizona. The money will be used by CSS to provide help for undocumented victims of violence and abuse.

Montes de Oca cited “a horrendous case in Yuma County, where a victim reported a crime and completely cooperated with law enforcement. The family also completely cooperated with law enforcement and with the county attorney to get the abuser convicted ultimately. Unfortunately, the abuser's family started calling Border Patrol and reporting ‘illegals.'”

As a result, the victim was detained by the Border Patrol, who later returned to arrest other members of the family who had been testifying in the case, Montes de Oca said.

“There were such incessant calls to Border Patrol that they arrived, entered the homes and detained family members who had been cooperating with law enforcement and the county attorney's office in prosecuting the abuser.”

The case had a negative impact on the illegal immigrant community, Montes de Oca said.

“The community is a very small community, and the word is, if you are undocumented, you better keep quiet.”

The passage of Arizona's SB 1070 did nothing to quell the distrust of undocumented victims toward law enforcement, Montes de Oca said. “Abusers ramped up the coercion and said SB 1070 is going into effect, which means you really can't call the police now.”

The federal grant was awarded to create partnerships between law enforcement, prosecution, courts and victim services organizations dealing with crimes against women. The grant will help CSS provide direct legal services to immigrant victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and sexual assault throughout southern Arizona.

That means Montes de Oca can keep doing her job. She travels across southern Arizona and to Yuma County to assist undocumented victims.

“I do a circuit ride where, once a week, I travel to one of the partner counties and I meet with clients in Casa Grande, Yuma, Nogales, Douglas and Tucson. I basically have a mobile office.

“In some of the counties along the border — Santa Cruz, Yuma and Douglas — there are Border Patrol checkpoints, and many of the clients who are undocumented can't cross those checkpoints. In some of those counties, there aren't any free or legal aid services that provide immigration services.

“That is why the program was set up to do the circuit ride, to go into these rural communities that have a very desperate need for legal services for victims of domestic violence that are undocumented because they can't cross the checkpoints to actually obtain legal services.”

Before the grant, the Battered Immigrant Women Project, which provides legal services for undocumented victims, was at risk of running out of money.

“At this point it was sort of like our life line,” Montes de Oca said. “We were scheduled to close our doors. Literally this money was a life line for many clients that still had cases that are open. There were frantic calls from everybody. We were hoping this money came through and thank God it did.”

Montes de Oca, who will meet with local undocumented victims in Yuma sometime this month at an undisclosed location, also tries to help them apply for U-visas.

“The monies that have been awarded will allow me to set up the ability to continue to travel to Yuma to be able to work on Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Petition and U-visas. VAWA petitions are for undocumented spouses who are married to someone who either has a green card or (is) a U.S. citizen.”

According to usimmigrationsupport.org, the purpose of the U-visa is to give victims of certain crimes temporary legal status and work eligibility in the United States for up to four years.

Family members may also be included on the petition, including spouses, children, unmarried sisters and brothers under 18, mothers, fathers, step-parents and adoptive parents.

An approved U-visa petition will automatically grant the applicant work eligibility in the United States. If approved, the applicant receives an Employment Authorization Document that can be shown to any employer to obtain a Social Security number so they can start work legally.

“The U-visa is a visa that is for immigrant crime victims who come forward and report a crime and cooperate with investigation or prosecution of the crime,” Montes de Oca explained.

“This U-visa is relatively new but was enacted in order to help law enforcement because law enforcement said to Congress they were getting frustrated because they noticed undocumented crime victims don't come forward.”

To be valid, the U-visa must be signed by the law enforcement agency or prosecution working on each case.

“After three years of having the U-visa, they would be eligible to apply for a green card. But then they would have to prove they have continued to cooperate with law enforcement,” Montes de Oca said.

“Really this visa is meant to help law enforcement get community involvement and interaction and build a trust between the undocumented community, which in Yuma is enormous, and law enforcement. So far, Yuma and San Luis have been very cooperative at signing the certification as compared to other counties.”

For help with legal services, undocumented victims of domestic abuse should first contact Amberly's Place, which would then refer them, Montes de Oca said.

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.