Asylum for Domestic Violence

The best thing about Legal Writing class as a 1L for me is that it's teaching me a lot about a few small segments of the law. One of those segments has been asylum law, which was the subject of our first memo last semester. I hardly knew what asylum was before that memo, but now I understand the basics, which means I know enough to understand the asylum process can be seriously random and unjust.

Asylum law is in the headlines today because of a big case about whether women who have been victims of domestic violence in their home country should be granted asylum in the U.S. NPR covered the story Friday, as did the print press. UC Hastings also has a site with more information on the case. Here's the gist:

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to grant asylum to a Guatemalan woman who was repeatedly beaten and raped by her husband for a decade.

The request will determine whether battered women are eligible to receive sanctuary in the United States. The case could have great impact on women in countries where domestic violence goes unpunished.

Ashcroft has the authority to allow Rodi Alvarado, 36, to stay in the country and set a precedent for other abused women seeking refuge. The recommendation was made in a legal brief filed late Thursday. It couldn't be determined when Ashcroft would act on it.

Asylum experts said Homeland Security's endorsement of Alvarado's asylum claim would make it far harder for Ashcroft to reject the plea.

It's incredibly depressing to have to rely on Ashcroft to make a potentially huge decision like this, but here's hoping he chooses correctly and grants Alvarado asylum.

In related news, tonight at 10 p.m. on Court TV: Chasing Freedom, an original movie about an Afghan woman trying to get asylum in the U.S. after being persecuted by the Taliban. Juliette Lewis stars as the young New York lawyer who takes the case pro bono. (Does anyone do asylum cases full time?) This could be just another opportunity for a movie to say, "Hey, the Taliban was really bad; isn't it great the U.S. took over Afghanistan?" But it's on court tv, so instead, maybe it will focus on the broken backwater that is U.S. immigration and asylum law. Although some of you may be too broken up after the series finale of Sex and the City to watch anything else, "Chasing Freedom" might be worth taping to watch some other day.

Posted February 22, 2004 08:32 AM | law general