वीजा कि अमेरिका में दुरुपयोग के पीड़ितों की मदद के लिए मांग बढ़ रही है.
Paloma Esquival तक, लॉस एंजिल्स टाइम्स सितंबर 27, 2011
लॉस एंजिल्स – नॉरमा साल के लिए उसके पति के शारीरिक और मानसिक उत्पीड़न सहा. लेकिन पांच साल की undocumented माँ अंततः उसे जब पुलिस को फोन करने का फैसला किया 10- और 11 वर्षीय बेटियों ने उसे बताया कि उनके पिता उन्हें यौन गाली दी थी.
“उस पल में,” Norma ने कहा, जो पूछा है कि उसकी आखिरी नाम इस्तेमाल किया जा नहीं उसके बच्चों की रक्षा, “मैं डर नहीं _ लगा, ज्यादातर मैं सिर्फ अपने आप में इतनी सारी चीज़ें छिपा के लिए गुस्सा लगा, यह बताने के लिए है कि बिंदु पर मिलता है.”
वह समय में निर्वासन की कार्यवाही में था और बस दिनों से दूर एक सुनवाई है कि देखा है उसे देश से निकाल दिया हो सकता है.
वकीलों मदद उसके निर्वासन यू - वीजा कार्यक्रम जब तक आस्थगित, जो दुरुपयोग पीड़ितों जो पुलिस अपराधों की जांच में मदद के लिए अस्थायी कानूनी दर्जा प्रदान करता है, में प्रभाव लिया 2008. उस समय में, नॉरमा पति एक बच्चे पर जबरन भद्दा कार्य के लिए के तहत जेल में छह साल की सजा सुनाई थी 14 और नॉरमा और उसके बच्चों को देश लंबी अवधि में रहने का अधिकार सुरक्षित.
यू - वीजा कार्यक्रम एक सुस्त शुरू करने के लिए बंद हो गया, शिकायत है कि आव्रजन अधिकारियों के लिए आवेदन को मंजूरी धीमी थे अधिवक्ताओं के साथ. यह तेजी से विकास हुआ है, तथापि, आउटरीच प्रयासों की मदद के साथ, अमेरिका के साथ अधिकारियों द्वारा स्थानीय यात्राओं सहित. नागरिकता और आव्रजन सेवा.
लेकिन बढ़ती जागरूकता के साथ बढ़ती मांग आ गया है. तीन वर्षों में है कि कार्यक्रम जगह में किया गया है, की तुलना में अधिक 30,000 आवेदन दायर किया गया है और अधिक से अधिक 25,600 अनुमोदित. Soon after a visit to Los Angeles this month to promote the program, immigration officials announced that all 10,000 available U-visas had been issued for the fiscal year, which ends Friday.
“We can see the volume already. At some point it’s going to be an issue,” said Betty Song, an attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in L.A. “I don’t know what purpose the cap serves, because if people are eligible, they are eligible.”
Since last year, अमेरिका. Senator Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and California Democratic Reps. George Miller and Judy Chu have pushed the Power Act, which would expand U-visas to include victims of labor exploitation and increase the number of such visas to 30,000 annually. But the legislation has gained little traction in Congress. Others hope an increase will be included in separate legislation to benefit crime victims.
Proponents of immigration restriction, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies, said visas for crime victims should be further limited to the most extreme cases.
“The historic pattern with these special interest visa set-asides is that once they become popular and the use expands to the limits set by Congress, then you get a backlog,” said Bob Dane, a FAIR spokesman. “Then that pressure begins to be applied to Congress to deal with the backlog by increasing the ceiling.”
Attorneys who work with U-visa applicants said they have yet to face much trouble with the limit because applications are put on hold until the next fiscal year, which begins in October.
By contrast, a cap of 5,000 visas available to human trafficking victims has never been reached. Last year only 574 applications were received.
In part, experts said, victims of human trafficking have a difficult time coming forward because of the nature of the crime _ and when they are tracked down, it can be difficult to get them to talk about their experiences.
U-visas, on the other hand, are available to the widest group of crime victims, including victims of assault, घरेलू हिंसा और अन्य अपराधों.
For those who manage to learn about and obtain the benefit, the program has a lasting effect.
After she was granted a visa, Norma went back to school to become a dental technician. In May she became a legal permanent resident and, she said, she hopes to become a citizen as soon as she is eligible. Her daughters too were granted legal permission to stay in the country.
Elisa, an Orange County woman who received a U-visa after reporting her husband’s physical abuse, became a citizen in May. She asked that her real name not be used to protect her family.
“I feel very grateful to this country,” she said. “I’ve gone to school, I’ve taken English, I’ve learned about self-esteem. I’ve been allowed to be independent, to work and to look for a better future.”
