In a case brought in Federal District Court in Rhode Island an abused spouse whose VAWA self-petition had been approved challenged USCIS’s revocation of her approved petition. The self-petitioner was divorced from her abuser and remarried after filing the self-petition but before the self-petition had been approved. The court’s ruling allows the self-petitioner to fully litigate her challenge the USCIS’s revocation of her self-petition due to remarriage in Federal District Court. The court’s ruling is based on the VAWA self-petitioning statute and its legislative history.
Publisher: U.S. District Court
[pdf] Friendly House Et Al., V. Michael B. Whiting Et Al., United States District Court Arizona (June 11 2010) (+)
Friendly House Et Al., V. Michael B. Whiting Et Al., United States District Court Arizona, (2010) Recruited by the ACLU, MALDEF, The National Immigration Law Center and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center to organize a women’s perspective amicus in support of plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop implementation of key portions of Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070. Legal Momentum also assisted in identifying immigrant victim plaintiff’s for this lawsuit. 83 women’s, violence against women’s and allied organizations joined the brief which demonstrated how SB 1070 interferes with federal protections for immigrant crime victims; cuts immigrant women and their children off from federally provided services necessary to protect life, health and safety, and harms children by depriving them of the care and nurturing of their mothers through detention leading to family separations. The Mexican Consulate translated this brief and is distributing it in Spanish. (Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, Pro Bono)
[pdf] Demaj v. Sakaj, 3:09 CV 255 (JGM), (D. Conn. Feb. 14, 2012) (+)
The case found that seeking VAWA confidentiality protected information through custody case discovery is barred by federal statute, and VAWA confidentiality applies even when the victim disclosed that their crime victim related immigration case was approved.
[pdf] In Re Interest of Angelica L. and Daniel L. (N.W.2d) (+)
Unanimous decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court overturning the termination of parental rights of an immigrant mother who was detained and deported and who was not provided language access to the state family court proceedings. The court found that immigrant parents, including undocumented, detained and deported parents and their children have a Constitutional right in the parent child relationship that must be preserved absent specific findings of abuse. In Termination of Parental rights proceedings courts should not engage in a comparison of countries or cultures that can lead to separating U.S. born children from their immigrant parents who have not abused or neglected the children.
[pdf] Judgment of Hawke v. United States Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services (+)
Federal Court judgment in Mark Hawke v. United States Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, No. C-07-03456 RMW.
[pdf] Order Denying First Amended Petition of Hawke v. United States Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services (+)
An order denying the first amended petition filed in Mark Hawke v. United States Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, No. C-07-03456 RMW.
[pdf] Garcia v. Audubon (+)
A civil action case between Garcia and others versus Audubon. The plaintiffs are non-documented workers who have filed suit against their former employer alleging that the Defendants improperly withheld wages.