The Trump administration left an immigration expert floored after deporting a woman who had gone to the police to secure justice against her husband for leveling death threats—despite Congress having created a visa program explicitly to protect people in that precise situation.
The case, originally reported by the Los Angeles Times, concerns an undocumented woman known only as “Carmen.” Carmen’s abusive husband came home drunk one night last summer. He pounded and kicked the door, threatening to kill her as her young son watched in horror. She called the police and eventually obtained a restraining order.
Months later, he returned and beat her again. Police intervened once more, and he was eventually deported, reported Rachel Uranga.
Thinking she had finally escaped his cruelty, Carmen applied for what is known as a U-Visa. This visa provides crime victims a way to stay in the United States legally.
However, according to the report, her application was left to gather dust. During a regular immigration check-in in June, Carmen was detained. Two months later, she was put on a plane with her 8-year-old son, who had just completed second grade. She was headed to her home country, terrified that her husband would find her.
Carmen is one of several deportees represented by a group of lawyers who, in October, sued the Trump administration in the Central District of California. The lawsuit challenges the detention and deportation of survivors with pending visa applications, some of whom have already been granted status to stay—and sometimes work—in the United States.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-deportation-2674261236/