# Protecting Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Act

This bill creates protections for immigrants who are experiencing domestic violence, allowing them to seek help without fear of being deported. Currently, many immigrant victims of abuse stay silent because they're afraid that reporting the violence or seeking legal protection will result in immigration enforcement action against them or their families. This bill aims to change that by giving domestic violence victims certain immigration protections and pathways to legal status, even if they're in the country without authorization.

The law recognizes that abusers often use immigration status as a tool to control their victims—threatening to report them to immigration authorities if they leave or seek help. By providing these protections, the bill removes that weapon from abusers' hands. Immigrant victims would be able to report domestic violence to police, obtain protective orders from courts, and work with domestic violence organizations without automatically triggering deportation proceedings. This encourages victims to come forward and access the support services they need, including shelters, counseling, and legal assistance.

The practical effect is that immigrant women, men, and children suffering abuse have a safer path to escape dangerous situations. They can cooperate with law enforcement to prosecute their abusers and access the same domestic violence resources available to other residents. The bill essentially says that being a victim of domestic violence shouldn't mean losing your home and being separated from your family through deportation. By protecting these vulnerable people, the law aims to reduce domestic violence overall and ensure that abusers can't use immigration status as leverage to continue harming their partners and children.

Protecting Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Act

Klobuchar, Amy

Protecting Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence ActThis bill allows an abused spouse or child whose immigrant status is derived from another alien (the principal alien) to obtain immigrant status independent of the principal alien. Current law provides a path to immigrant status to abused individuals who derive their status from a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, but not to those who derive their status from another alien.Such an abused spouse or child must be accompanying or following to join the principal alien and have been subject to battery or extreme cruelty by the principal alien. An abused individual with immigrant status shall receive employment authorization, be eligible for renewal or extension of status, and become an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under certain conditions.