There are roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and Susan Schreiber, a field attorney of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., held a presentation in East Moline for local law enforcement and social workers about the rights of immigrants themselves and immigration law.\u00a0 The two-hour presentation touched on barriers that immigrant crime victims face, the mechanisms of legal immigration that are in
\n place and the long waiting periods that lead to people to enter the country illegally.\u00a0 \u201cCongress was talking about comprehensive immigration reform because with the current system many have no chance at legal status,\u201d Schreiber said.She noted that many immigrants are afraid of law enforcement and reporting crimes because of lack status making them more vulnerable to crime. The lawyer explained the immigration law terminology that only allows for two kinds of people, U.S. citizens and aliens. According to legal terminology, U.S. Citizenship is obtained by birth in the United States, by acquisition (born abroad), by derivation (citizen\u2019s child is a permanent resident) and by naturalization.Definitions for what is an immigrant and a non-immigrant were given, who enforces immigration law, \u201cthe alphabet soup\u201d of different visas and even how long the process takes for someone to obtain a visa.\u00a0 Schreiber talked about the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, which allows for abused spouses of U.S. Citizens or Legal Permanent Residents to self- petition for residency without having to rely on the abusing spouse.\u00a0 Under the VAWA, abused children, a non-abused spouse whose child has been abused by the U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident (even if the child is not related to the abuser), an abused \u201cintended spouse\u201d, and even abused parents of U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents can all self-petition under these circumstances.
\nExample case studies were given that helped understand how in some instances there may be a way for some immigrants and their families to obtain legal status if they were victims of certain crimes.
\nSchreiber mentioned how in the 80s most of her clients used to be married males who had families back in Mexico whom they returned to after working and saving money and that since the U.S. border became more secure a \u201clocking people in\u201d phenomenon occurred and now they are bringing their families and not going back.
\n\u201cCurrent [legal] waits for family reunification are as long as twenty-two years,\u201d she said.
\nAfter remaining neutral throughout the session, Schreiber ended the session with her opinion of the immigration issue. \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to have an opinion on immigration policy,\u201d she said. \u201cA group of people support comprehensive immigration reform. In May, Congress looked at an enforcement only policy.\u201d
\n\u201cMost people who are undocumented, the law doesn\u2019t give them anything. While you\u2019re waiting for legal status, you don\u2019t have a legal status,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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