Speech #1090100852

For consistency. these cases need to be centralized in one division and I believe that this office is best equipped to address these cases. The current practice of granting deferred action to approved VAWA selfpetitioners should continue. Aliens with deferred action status should not be removed or deported. Prima facie determinations and deferred action grants should not be revoked by immigration enforcement agents. The specially trained Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) unit should review such cases to determine whether or not to revoke a deferred action grant. Immigration enforcement officials at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement do not have authority to overrule a CIS grant of deferred action to an alien victim. Immigration enforcement officers should refer aliens they encounter who may qualify for relief under this Act to immigration benefits adjudicators handling VAWA cases at CIS. VAWA confidentiality protections in IIRAIRA are amended to conform with current practice extending these protections to the Department of Homeland Security in addition to the "Department of Justice and to expand confidentiality protections to the Department of State. These protective provisions were designed to assure that the Secretary of Homeland Security. the Attorney General and the Secretary of State may not use information furnished by. or derived from information provided solely by. an abuser. crime perpetrator or trafficker to make an adverse determination of admissibility or. removal of an alien. However. information in the public record and government databases can be relied upon. even if government officials first became aware of it through an abuser. This section provides that this provision shall not apply to prevent information from being disclosed (in a manner that protects victim confidentiality and safety) to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. including the Immigration Subcommittees. in the exercise of their oversight authority. This section also gives the specially trained VAWA unit the discretion to refer victims to nonprofit. nongovernmental organizations to obtain a range of needed assistance and victim services. Referrals should be made to programs with expertise in providing assistance to immigrant victims of violence and can only be made after obtaining written consent from the immigrant victim. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the ability of an applicant to designate a safe organization through which governmental agencies may communicate with the applicant. This section requires that the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice provide guidance to their officers and employees who have access to information protected by Section 384 of IIRAIRA. including protecting victims of domestic violence. sexual assault. trafficking and other crimes from the harm that could result from inappropriate disclosure of information. Congress encourages the DHSs specially trained VAWA unit and CIS VAWA policy personnel: (1) to develop a training program that can be used to train DHS staff. trial attorneys. immigration judges. and other DOJ and DOS staff who regularly encounter alien victims of crimes. and (2) to craft and implement policies and protocols on appropriate handling by DHS. DOJ and DOS officers of cases under VAWA 1994. the Acts subsequently reauthorizing VAWA. and IIRIRA. Section 825 contains a number of amendments particularly important to me. Protecting victims of domestic violence from deportation and assuring that they can have their day in court before an immigration judge to file for VAWA related immigration relief is a central focus of all VAWA immigration protection I have been involved in developing since 1994. This section contains amendments that clarify the VAWA 2000 motions to reopen for abused aliens. enabling otherwise eligible VAWA applicants to pursue VAWA relief from removal. deportation or exclusion. This section provides that the limitation of one motion to reopen a removal proceeding shall not prevent the filing of one special VAWA motion to reopen. In addition. a VAWA petitioner can file a motion to reopen removal proceedings after the normal 90day cutoff period. measured from the time of the final administrative order of removal.