“Congress came together today and put partisan politics aside to protect victims of violence,” said Meghan Rhoad, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. The VAWA reauthorization bill passed by the House of Representatives, S.47, includes some “additional protections for immigrant victims of violence.” They include adding stalking to the list of serious crimes covered by the U visa. The U visa allows victims of certain crimes, usually violent, to be able to live and work legally in the U.S. and eventually apply for permanent residence if they have been helpful to law enforcement. Another improvement was expending the number of available U visas per year, as only 10,000 are available under the current law. Additionally, under the bill provisions, children included as derivative beneficiaries under their parents’ U visa petitions will not age out when they turn 21.
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