ASISTA has developed analysis and practice pointers on the new VAWA 2013 reauthorization provisions. Of particular interest to immigrant worker advocates is Congress’s inclusion of a new qualifying criminal activity for the purposes of a U visa, “fraud in foreign labor contracting,” under 18 U.S.C. Section 1351.

FILED UNDER: Immigration Reform | U visas

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released a revised U visa protocol that provides new internal agency procedures for certification of U visa petitions. The protocol streamlines U visa certification within the EEOC, and clarifies the process for U visa certification in cases involving multiple victims of crime in the same workplace.

• The new protocol streamlines certification by designating the EEOC General Counsel as a certifying official with authority to issue U visa certifications, instead of requiring additional approval by the EEOC Chair’s office.
• The new protocol provides a procedure for certification requests where more than one individual affected by the same employment practices may be considered together, although sufficient information must be provided to enable the agency to prepare each individual’s certification form.
• The new protocol continues to require that an EEOC attorney conduct an interview with the U visa applicant as part of a factual inquiry and credibility determination required for certification. However, EEOC attorneys may consider alternatives other than an in-person interview.

NELP will coordinate a conference call with EEOC staff to discuss the new protocol in the near future. Please contact Eunice Cho at echo@nelp.org if you are interested in participating.

FILED UNDER: EEOC | U visas

Today, in its reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider HR 4970, a bill that includes amendments that endanger immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. HR4970 not only leaves out moderate improvements to VAWA’s protections for immigrant survivors that were included in S1925, the widely supported bipartisan Senate bill, but it also includes amendments that significantly undercut existing protections for immigrant survivors. Although House Republican leaders attempted to address some concerns in their manager’s amendment, the remaining provisions will result in further harm by rolling back protections to victims leaving them without meaningful access to protection, causing processing delays, and frustrating law enforcement efforts in investigating and prosecuting crimes.

For more information, visit: http://4vawa.org/. See NELP’s fact sheet on HR 4970. 

FILED UNDER: Immigration Reform | Legislation | U visas

FILED UNDER: U visas

NELP’s Immigrant Worker Justice Project has released new resources addressing potential immigration remedies for immigrant workers.  First, check out a fact sheet on prosecutorial discretion as it applies to immigrant workers, which discusses the Department of Homeland Security’s recent memoranda and how the prosecutorial discretion policy could potentially aid immigrant workers engaged in workplace complaints, civil rights litigation, or protected workplace activity. Second, check out NELP's fact sheet on the U visa--a potential remedy for immigrant workers facing labor abuse and immigrant victims of workplace-related crime.

FILED UNDER: DHS/ICE | Immigrant Workers | Immigration | Retaliation | U visas | Unions