How does immigration status affect South Asian battered women?
PS: Immigration status is a significant concern for South Asian survivors of abuse. So often we hear women tell us that their abusers threaten them with deportation if they disclose violence to anyone. While this threat is often not legally valid, it naturally makes women fearful for their future. In addition, immigration laws do not currently provide a safety net for all South Asian women who are abused. For example, while some battered women may qualify to self-petition for their green cards, a larger subset of women – including women on an H-4 status or undocumented women married to undocumented men – simply have no access to immigration remedies. If we are to ensure women’s safety, we need to insist on immigration reform that addresses the unnecessary vulnerability of women in such immigration statuses. Finally, immigrant women who are abused often face further isolation because they are disconnected from their support networks: in their home countries, they may have been able to a
