VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a United States federal law that sought to improve criminal justice and community-based responses to violent crimes perpetrated against women such as domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. VAWA was passed in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000 and is a landmark piece of legislation because it was the first comprehensive legislative package which brought together the criminal justice system, the social services system, and private nonprofit organizations, to respond to violent crimes against women. VAWA and subsequent legislation created the federal prosecution of interstate domestic violence and sexual assault, required states and territories to enforce interstate protection orders, acknowledged and supported the efforts of community organizations such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers that were already working tirelessly to end violence against women, created legal assistance programs from victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

VAWA also included legal protections for battered immigrants. The immigration provisions sought to prevent abusers from using the immigration law to control victims. Under VAWA, abused immigrant spouses and children of lawful U.S. residents or U.S. citizens would be able to obtain immigration status in the U.S. without the abuser’s consent or help. If the abused immigrant qualifies, s/he will be able to “self-petition”: file his/her own application for immigration relief independent of the abusive U.S. citizen or lawful resident spouse. An approval of this self-petition allows him/her to apply for an employment authorization document for himself or herself and any children included in his or her application. If s/he meets the requirements to apply for legal residency (a green card), s/he can they apply for her own green card.

Protections for benefits remained as Congress recognized the need to give victims a safety net to become independently successful.

Through the immigration process, a victim receives notices which can be used to access public benefits. At the same time, the victim’s immigration status may be changing.

Immigration has different recognized statuses which may not directly follow the status a person needs to get benefits. There are multiple immigration statuses which overlap when it comes to determining benefits eligibility.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND WORK OPPORTUNITY RECONCILIATION ACT OF 1996 (PRWORA)

PRWORA, commonly referred to as The Welfare Reform Act, was a sweeping overhaul of the United States' welfare law, that targeted poor people and immigrants. As a result, many immigrants lost the right to access the public benefits which served as a safety net.

Two major classes which remained protected were refugees and domestic violence victims. Although protections for victims were implemented, they were still limited.

CALIFORNIA LAWS

In response to the Welfare Reform Act reducing access to benefits, California decided to provide relief to the most vulnerable populations, including immigrant victims of domestic violence.

California continues to change their benefits laws to respond to changes in immigration laws.

COUNTY REGULATIONS

Once the state issues benefits changes, each county develops their own plan to implement these changes. They also write “regulations” which describe the details of how each HHSA worker should implement the laws. These “regulations” dictate how each immigrant will be categorized in each individual county “computer system”.

Because each county develops their own “regulations” and implementation procedure, there is some inconsistency in the state in how easily victims can access the benefits for which they qualify.

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Federal laws govern who can be given a social security number. Because most “benefits systems” require a SSN in order to access benefits, it is important to understand their requirements.