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9a <br />.:X,4 t n,"?' !mac <br />MU "?'?VW, <br />"• . 't ''? 1 i i•If«; Td 'L? 1 " L4 i. ?(i.a'? <br />11 `71 <br />laMrw isi, rl"ti nn..'! ,Sd++?. wa4w? ? w... a?5n ww ws smis. a? _ Lr S?a w l?w?g 1x <br />1 a! <br />_ a r q r• ?? SEARCH Enter email ?? SIGN UP: r ,; <br />Send or Print this page <br />! o t. A <br />! <br />I 1 11 -_ Enter email National. NOW Times >> Winter 2003/_2004 >> Article <br />EQUAL! <br />SIGN uP:. <br />to stay informed about CLEAR Act Threatens Immigrant Women Victims of Violence <br />feminist issues! <br />by Karin Almjeld, Communications Intern <br />11+11 What's New <br />[:E, Action Alerts <br />In the name of homeland security, conservative members of Congress <br />are proposing a huge step backward for battered women: legislation <br />that would undermine the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the <br />Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act, thereby endangering <br />the lives of immigrant survivors of domestic violence and sexual <br />assault. <br /> <br />:arvzr , <br />f.? <br />t'#i?P OC <br />tri <br />r. tea; <br />,t. 8' Nt 1 <br />I r?T <br />{?a?x <br />L Press Releases <br />l+' NOW Read This <br />NOW Times <br />On July 9, 2003, House Representatives Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., <br />Melissa Hart, R-Pa., and Allen Boyd, D-Fla., introduced the Clear Law <br />Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act, H.R. 2671. This <br />bill would require local law enforcement officials to enforce federal <br />immigration laws, in effect turning local police into immigration agents. <br />If passed by Congress, the CLEAR Act would further endanger already <br />vulnerable immigrant women and their children, who might be afraid to <br />report abuse for fear of the consequences to their immigration status. <br />NOW PACs "Do the sponsors of this bill care that they are putting the health and <br />NOW Foundation lives of immigrant women at risk?" asks NOW Action Vice President <br />Olga Vives. "Protecting our country from terrorism should not come at <br />the expense of helping women who are trying to escape domestic <br />violence, no matter what country they are from." The CLEAR Act <br />compels state and local police departments to enforce the complicated <br />immigration laws, or lose federal funding. Although not specifically <br />asked to seek out undocumented immigrants, the law does instruct <br />police departments to "investigate, apprehend, detain, or.remove <br />aliens" discovered during the course of their law enforcement duties. <br />As a result, the CLEAR Act would have disastrous consequences for <br />immigrant survivors and witnesses of domestic violence, sexual <br />assault, trafficking and other crimes. Victims of domestic violence are <br />unlikely to leave their abusers, if they believe seeking protection from <br />the police could result in their being turned over to the Department of <br />Homeland Security for deportation. They may also fear losing custody <br />of their children to abusive husbands if they are deported as a result of <br />reporting the abuse. <br />Over the past decade, Congress has sought to encourage immigrant <br />victims to report crimes without fear of deportation, notably by passing <br />the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and 'VAWA 2000. Together, the <br />acts offer relief and life-saving public benefits to immigrant women who <br />are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and/or trafficking, <br />including specific immigration protections for undocumented victims.