Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you to oppose H.R. 30, the “Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act.” This deceptively named and written bill would likely do more harm to the victims of domestic violence that it aims to protect. It does nothing for ‘prevention’ but instead would place them in greater danger and subject them to further harassment, detention, and potential deportation. It’s intent is biased, obviously lopsided against immigrants. H.R. 30 is also legally problematic. The bill calls for immigration enforcement measures against people who have not actually been convicted in a court of any particular crime.
As a general matter, any such policy would contravene the nation’s most basic notions of due process and would greatly increase the risk of abusive and discriminatory enforcement.
H.R. 30 also ignores the difficulties that survivors of domestic violence face. as it is not uncommon for a survivor to also be accused of abuse, either by abusers themselves or by police.
This bill would greatly increase the likelihood of survivors being exposed to immigration consequences, even when they are the ones seeking help from law enforcement.
It also increases the likelihood that survivors will be punished under child welfare laws for arguably failing to protect their children from the very abuse to which they themselves are being subjected.
H.R. 30 does not include any waivers or exceptions that might ensure domestic violence survivors are not subjected to immigration enforcement actions.
Therefore, I urge you to vote NO on HR 30. Thanks to you and your staff for your service and attention to this matter.
Sign Petition
