Salt Lake City, Utah – September 18 – 19, 2024

Best Practices for Responding to, Investigating and Prosecuting Cases Involving Immigrant Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence (September 18, 2024)

PowerPoint Presentation

Description

Immigrant victims of crime are often reluctant to call the police for help or to participate in the criminal justice process. In cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and child abuse the barriers are compounded, as victims often face immigration-related abuse and threats of deportation. This training will provide law enforcement, prosecutors, systems-based victim advocates, child welfare, and state agency staff, with information on the U and T visa programs, including how these programs stabilize victims and improve victim and community safety by increasing victims’ justice system participation, which enhances offender accountability. Participants will also learn prosecution best practices in the context of immigrant victim and offender dynamics, including pretrial and trial strategies to counter common defenses in cases involving immigrant victims of crime.

Presenters

  • Leslye E. Orloff, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, American University, Washington College of Law, Director and Adjunct Professor
  • Detective Shelli Sonnenberg, Boise Police Department
  • Elliott Casey, Staff Attorney, Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Services Council

Serving Immigrant Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence, Child Abuse, Human Trafficking, and Stalking: Holistic, Trauma Informed Best Practices (September 19, 2024)

PowerPoint Presentation

Description

The goals of this training will be to ensure that attendees will be better able to screen and serve survivors eligible for immigration relief (VAWA, T visa, U visa, and SIJS) using a trauma-informed approach while improving survivor safety and economic security. The training will provide tips and tools for expanding access to family law protections, SIJS judicial determinations, and all of the state and federal benefits and services immigrant survivors are eligible to receive in Utah. The training will also highlight trafficking co-occurring with domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and child abuse.

Presenters

  • Leslye E. Orloff, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, American University, Washington College of Law, Director and Adjunct Professor
  • Rafaela Rodrigues, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, American University, Washington College of Law, Assistant Director

If you are a victim advocate, attorney, judge, or other professional working with an immigrant victim and you would like to receive case specific technical assistance on family law issues that arise in cases of immigrant crime victims, please call NIWAP (National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project) for technical assistance at (202) 274-4457 or email us at info@niwap.org.

Tools for police and prosecutors: http://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/law-enforcement-training-materials/  

Tools for victim advocates and attorneys: https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/advocates-attorneys-training-materials  

Communities of Practice: NIWAP runs several Roundtables and Communities of Practice that provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning that meet several times a year with others from across the country working in your profession serving immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and human trafficking. For each membership is limited to that profession. Please join and encourage others in your community to join:

*Training Materials: Law Enforcement and Prosecutors (Last Updated – August 11, 2024)

Law Enforcement, Prosecutor and Systems-Based Victim Advocate Podcast Series https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/niwap-podcast-series

For law enforcement and prosecutors on best practices and special issues that arise in working with immigrant victims. Includes discussions with law enforcement and prosecutor experts on the U visa and the T visa.

U-Visa Introduction (44 minutes)

An introduction to the U-Visa featuring Tara Patet, a prosecutor in St. Paul, MN, and Investigator Michael LaRiviere from the Salem, MA Police Department, along with Rocio Molina, Deputy Director of NIWAP. This podcast covers the basics and fundamentals about what a U-Visa is, including certification and the concept of “helpfulness.”

T-Visa Introduction (25 minutes)

An introduction to the T-Visa featuring Stacey Ivie, a Detective and Task Force Officer with the City of Alexandria, Va., police department, along with Leslye Orloff, Director of NIWAP.

U-Visa FAQ’s (22 minutes)

Frequently asked questions about the U-Visa featuring Stacey Ivie, a Detective, and Task Force Officer with the City of Alexandria, Va., police department. This podcast debunks some commonly-held myths and answers some common questions.

Certifying Early (32 minutes)

This podcast emphasizes the importance of certifying early in the U-Visa and T-Visa processes. Featuring Christopher Freeman, a prosecutor from Hennepin County, MN, and Jane Anderson, a former prosecutor who now works at Aequitas, a resource for prosecutors on violence against women.

Building Relationships

A two-part episode featuring Sgt. Inspector Tony Flores, San Francisco Police Department, Officer Irene Lee Klein, West Hartford, Connecticut, Police Department, and Sharla Jackson, Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of GA.

Part One – Best Practices Working with Immigrant Victims (26 minutes)

Focuses on Best Practices for Working with Immigrant Victims.

Part Two – Working with NGOs and Applying Trauma-Informed Practices (47 minutes)

NIWAP’s Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, and Systems-Based Victim Advocates

Forms of Immigration Relief and Screening Tools

Know Your Rights Information

Glossary of Terms for Work with Immigrant Survivors

Prosecutor’s Tools Enhancing Work with Immigrant Crime Victims

Department of Homeland Security Publications

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), U Visa and T Visa Legislative History

Immigration Options for Immigrant Survivors – Manual Chapters

U and T Visas

Forms

U-Visa Forms

T-Visa Forms

Webinars

U Visa as a Crime-Fighting Tool

State U and T Visa Certification Laws

Webinars

VAWA Confidentiality, Discovery, and Courthouse Enforcement – Webinars

Stalking

Electronic Evidence

Links to YouTube Trainings

Electronic Evidence Materials

Best Practices and Collaborations

Blueprint Safety Materials

Language Access

Language Access Resources for Law Enforcement and Prosecutors from Technical Assistance Providers

Collaboration

VAWA Self-Petition

Public Benefits for Systems-Based and Other Victim Advocates

Dynamics of Domestic Violence Experienced by Immigrant Survivors

Trauma Informed Work with Immigrant Survivors

Focuses on working with NGOs and Applying Trauma-Informed Practices in work with immigrant survivors.

**If you have difficulty accessing this publication please contact for assistance NIWAP at (202) 274-4457 or info@niwap.org

Published September 10, 2024