February 2, 2010

U Visa Provides Relief From Illegal Immigrants Abuse

by Minara El-Rahman
FindLaw

Illegal immigrants typically are loathe to report abuse they suffer because of fear of deportation; but there is a ray of hope for them with the U visa.

We wrote about how undocumented immigrants are more likely to suffer from wage theft in our Law and Daily Life post here. The New York Times quotes Susan Bowyer, the managing lawyer for the Oakland office of the International Institute of the Bay Area as saying, "Undocumented immigrants are unbelievably vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and victimization because their fear of detection keeps them from reporting that victimization."

The U visa was created by Congress in October 2000 in order to help law enforcement agencies investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking of aliens, and other crimes. The U visa was created to help offer protection to victims of these crimes.

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