The San Mateo County IISF office provides legal assistance, community
education and outreach to low-income immigrant domestic violence survivors,
to inform them of their options and assist them in obtaining relief. Targeted
individuals have not regularized their immigration status, but are eligible
to do so as spouses of U.S. citizens and residents. The only obstacle
that prevents them from obtaining legal status is their abuser's withholding
of action on the necessary petition as another form of abuse and control.
This holds the victim hostage to the abuser's threats: if she leaves,
she'll have no way to remain in the country legally. Though many victims
of domestic violence don't know it, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA),
gives these women the right to free themselves of their abusers and self-petition
for U.S. Permanent Residency.
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