Section 812 provides that an alien who is a VAWA petitioner or is seeking cancellation of removal or VAWA suspension as a battered alien is not subject to the penalties for failing to depart after agreeing to a voluntary departure order. if the battery or extreme cruelty. trafficking. or criminal activity provided at least one central reason related to the aliens failure to depart. In this context it is my understanding that the term "at least one central reason" is intended to mean that the failure to depart was caused by. or related to. the battering or extreme cruelty experience and its concurrent process of victimization. Section 813 is designed to address a number of problems for immigrant victims in removal proceedings. The definition of exceptional circumstances will now include battering or extreme cruelty. Important clarifications are made to assure that immigration judges can grant victims the domestic violence victim waivers we created in VAWA 2000. I particularly want to emphasize the importance of the protections from reinstatement of removal we create in this Act for immigrant victims. Under current law DHS has the discretionary authority to consent to the readmission of a previously removed alien (using the existing I212 process). DHS should make use of its discretion in granting readmission to appropriately assist aliens with humanitarian cases including but not limited to. victims of domestic violence. sexual assault. victims of trafficking and crime victims who are cooperating in criminal investigations.
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