News & Updates

Do you have the right email addresses for the Hotline?

By Admin | Feb 21, 2018 |

We have heard from the VAWA Unit at the Vermont Service Center (VSC) that some stakeholders may be reaching out to the VAWA Unit Hotlines using an incorrect email address, (e.g. sending an email to hotlinefollowupi918i914.vsc@dhs.gov, which is the wrong domain). Even when you reach out to the dhs.gov email, you may still receive an auto-response that your message…

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Joint Statement on Recent DOJ/DHS Report

By Admin | Jan 29, 2018 |

ASISTA, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-based Violence, Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network, and Tahirih Justice Center issued a joint statement to the divisive and inaccurate White House statement and DOJ and DHS report issued this week, which among other things, requires the agencies to report on acts of gender-based violence committed by foreign nationals. The administration’s…

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National Taskforce to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Statement on Ending Salvadoran TPS

By Admin | Jan 10, 2018 |

On January 9, 2018, the National Taskforce to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (of which ASISTA is a co-chair of the immigration sub committee) issued a statement denouncing the Administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for El Salvador. If expelled from the United States, many of the 200,000 individuals now protected by Salvadoran…

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7th Circuit holds IJs have review of I-192 for U visa applicants

By Admin | Dec 28, 2017 |

Many thanks, again, to Chuck Roth for NIJC for leading this effort. Baez-Sanchez reiterates the 7th Circuits findings in L.D.G. v. Holder, 744 F.3d 1022 (7th Cir. 2014), where it found that the BIA and IJs had (d)(3) waiver authority as to U visas.  The BIA later disagreed in Matter of Khan, 26 I&N Dec. 797…

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ASISTA joins amicus effort for work authorization for pending U visa applicants

By Admin | Dec 28, 2017 |

ASISTA is proud to share the Amicus Brief related to bona fide work authorization while U visas are pending. The brief was filed in October in the Eastern District of New York.  Many thanks to  Celso Perez and Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger, Tetzeli & Pratt for crafting the brief for us, to Julie Carpenter of Tahirih…

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Buzzfeed Article: Survivors Not Reaching Out for Help for Fear of Deportation

By Admin | Mar 20, 2017 |

“President Trump’s policies are forcing undocumented immigrants who suffer domestic abuse to decide which is riskier: staying with their abusers, or going to court and possibly being detained by immigration agents.” Read full article here.

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Post-Election Q & A for Advocates and Attorneys Serving Immigrant Survivors of Gender-based Violence

By Admin | Dec 13, 2016 |

It is important for attorneys and advocates working with immigrant domestic violence/sexual assault survivors to understand what the anticipated changes in immigration policy might mean for the individuals and families they serve.  For this reason, this post-election Q &A was prepared to explain how the anticipated changes may effect immigrant survivors of domestic and sexual…

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Advisory Committee Report on Family Detention

By Admin | Oct 31, 2016 |

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers (ACFRC) was established on July 24, 2015, and is comprised of experts in the fields of primary education, detention management, detention reform, immigration law, family and youth services, trauma-informed services, and physical and mental health. ASISTA’s Sonia Parras Konrad was appointed as a…

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