In 2012 Representative Jan Schakowsky introduced HR 5331 which contained a broad number of legislative amendments designed to improve legal options, protections and services available to help immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, stalking, human trafficking and other crimes. Some of the provisions contained in HR 5331 became law as part of the Violence Against Women Act of 2013.

This page provides an interlineated version of HR 5331 and a section-by-section analysis of the important provisions contained in the bill. The section-by section document contains a detailed table of contents that outlines the legislative reforms contained in HR 5331. There are also other legislative reforms that today are urgently needed by immigrant survivors. These other reforms are needed in addition to the HR 5331 protections discussed above, and legislators should consider passing all of these reforms in the future. These proposals along with draft legislative language are included in the final document linked on this page.

• HR 5331 112th Congress, The Violence Against Immigrant Women Act of 2012: Section-by-Section
  • Detailed discussion of each provision of the bill. Contains annotations for future drafters about additional legislative language that should be included in future legislation to address issues that have arisen or become greater areas of need since HR 5331 was originally drafted.
    • The document contains a detailed index of the provisions contained in the bill
    • Topics covered in the bill include
      • Reforms that improve access to VAWA, T and U visa and SIIJS status for greater numbers of victims
      • Early access to work authorization for victims
      • Expanding the list of U visa criminal activities
      • Deleting the supervisor requirement for designating U visa certifiers
      • Authorizing VOCA Administrators to sign U visa certifications
      • Exception from foreign residence requirement for education al visitors applying for VAWA self-petitions
      • Additional relief for abused fiancés and visa waiver entrants
      • Expanded access to parole to reunify family members with VAWA, T and U visa vicitms
      • Asylum protection s for victims of gender based violence
      • Expanded protections from removal and inadmissibility waivers
      • VAWA cancellation of removal for abused spouses of bigamists
      • Improved access to naturalization for abused spouses of U.S. citizens
      • Expansion of fee waivers
      • Statutory authorization of judicial review of extreme cruelty determinations and all VAWA cases
      • Requiring that battered spouse waiver and SIJS adjudications be moved to the VAWA unit
      • VAWA confidentiality improvements
      • Enhanced training of adjudicators and immigration judges
      • Amendments to Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act adding VAWA self-petitioners
      • Training for state court judges on immigration issues that arise in custody cases and the impact of VAWA confidentiality on discovery
      • Reforms to treat enforcement of language access the same as enforcement under the Americans With Disabilities Act
      • Requiring all law enforcement and prosecution agencies who receive any source of federal funding to implement U visa certification practices by the end of the agency’s current grant and to be eligible to apply for future funding
      • Amendments to VAWA grant programs to encourage language access and encourage grantees to better serve immigrant survivors
      • VOCA improvements to ensure non-citizens have access to VOCA compensation and other improvements
      • Bars discrimination in both VAWA and VOCA based on alienage status or limited English proficiency
      • Adds research on violence against women, including immigrant, limited English proficient, and underserved populations to the authorized purposes of a wide range of federally funded research grants administered by the National Institutes of Justice, the CDC, and National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies that fund research
      • Expansions of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act
      • Requires data collection and annual reporting to Congress by DHS and the Legal Services Corporation
      • Calls for a study and report on VAWA confidentiality
• Interlineated HR 5331 Violence Against Immigrant Women Act of 2021
  • Full text of the Violence Against Immigrant Women Act of 2021 with interlineations crossings out the text of the language that became law as part of VAWA 2013 or that is no longer needed because the issue has been addressed by policy or regulatory reforms in the intervening years.
• Legislative Reforms Needed For Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking and Immigrant Children Who Have Suffered Abuse, Abandonment or Neglect
  • This document contains both proposed statutory text and section-by-section analysis of additional statutory reforms needed for the protection of immigrant victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking and other crimes. Important legislative reforms needed for immigrant survivors include:
    • Elimination of the U visa annual cap
    • Expanded U visa criminal activities (Hate Crimes, Dating Violence, Child and Elder Abuse) and Expanded authorized U visa certifiers
    • The Women Immigrant Safe Harbor (WISH) Act providing access to the public benefits safety net for immigrant victims of crime and abuse which includes benefits access for U visa and SIJS survivors and expanded access for VAWA self-petitioners, VAWA cancellation and suspension applicants so that all have the same access to public benefits as T visa victims receive
    • Ensuring law enforcement agencies issue U visa certifications in cases of Immigrant Victims: Byrne Grant Amendments
    • Expanded access to representation for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status eligible children
    • Guaranteed access to Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) compensation for all victims without Rrgard to immigration status
    • Stopping the initiation of immigration enforcement, detention, or removal of VAWA, T and U Visa and other immigration relief eligible victims
    • Elimination of all fees related to any part of any VAWA, T or U Visa or Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) case including waiver applications, work authorization, applications for lawful permanent residency and any other fees and costs.