Overview of Legal, Health and Mental Health
Issues:Immigrants, Refugees and
Survivors of Torture
Denise Michultka, Ph.D.
Liberty Center for Survivors of Torture231 N. 63rd StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19139215 747-7500 x [email protected]
Overview
Entering short term Entering Long term
– Family sponsorship– Employment sponsorship– Refugee
Exclusion (Inadmission) Removal Citizenship
Sources of Law
Law Implementation Interpretation
Congress(Before 9/11)
After 9/11 DHS Policy
Dept of Homeland SecurityBICEBICSBIBP
Courts
Non immigrant methods of entry
Non-immigrant Short term visas Temporary visas
Short Term Non Immigrant Visas
(A) an ambassador (B) visiting temporarily for business or
temporarily for pleasure (C) transit through the United States, (D) crewman (E) treaty of commerce
Short Term Non Immigrants Visas
(F)bona fide student qualified to pursue a full course of study
(G) principal resident representative of a foreign government
(H) temporarily to perform services in a specialty occupation
(I) representative of foreign press, radio, film, or other foreign information media,
(J) student, scholar, trainee, teacher, professor, research assistant,
Short Term Non Immigrants Visas
K) fiancée or fiancé of a citizen of the United States (L) employed continuously for one year by a firm or corporation (M)full course of study at an established vocational or other
recognized nonacademic institution (N) the parent of an alien accorded the status of special
immigrant (O) extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education,
business, or athletics which been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim or,
Short Term Non Immigrants Visas
(P) artist or entertainer or with such a group (Q) international cultural exchange (R) religious denomination having a bona fide
nonprofit, religious organization in United States
Short Term Non Immigrants Visas
(S) critical reliable information concerning a criminal organization or enterprise
T) Victims of sex trafficking, complied with reasonable request for assistance in the investigation or prosecution of trafficking
U) crime victims who have suffered physical or mental abuse as a result of rape, torture, trafficking, incest, domestic violence; possesses information concerning the criminal activity (214(O)
V spouses and children (unmarried and under the age of 21) to come in or stay in the U.S. once a petition filed by a permanent resident spouse/parent was filed more than three years previously and was approved or is still pending
ENTER WITH NO VISA
Summary Short Term Visas
Tourists Students Fiance(e) Temporary Workers
Immigrant Visas:Long term
Sponsored by a Family Sponsored by a Job Sponsoring yourself (Asylum) Sponsoring yourself (Abuse) Sponsoring yourself (Adjudicated Dependent
Juvenile) Sponsoring yourself (Lottery)
Long Term:Immigrant Visas
Immediate relatives First: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.
Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, and any unused first preference numbers:
A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% ofthe overall second preference limitation.
Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.
Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.
Visa BulletinAll Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed
India Mexico Philippines
1st
Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens
01MAR99 01MAR99 U 15OCT88
Spouses and Children, and of Permanent Residents
15NOV96 15NOV96 22 Oct 94 15NOV96
2B
Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents
22JUL93 22JUL93 22OCT91 22JUL93
3rd
Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens
15MAY96 15MAY96 01JUL92 15JUN88
4th
Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens
22JAN90 01FEB89 22JAN90 15JAN80
Long TermImmigrant Visas
Employment Based First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not
required for fourth and fifth preferences.
Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.
Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "Other Workers."
Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.
Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.
Visa BulletinAll Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed
India Mexico Philippines
1st
Priority WorkersC C C C
2nd Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability
C C C C
3rd Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers
C C C C
4th Certain Special Immigrants
C C C C
5thinvestors in a targeted rural or high-
unemployment area,
C C C C
Violence Against WomenINS 204(a)(1)
Spouses and children of U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent Residents who are victims of domestic violence can self-petition for permanent residency
Special Juvenile Immigrant
8 U.S.C. 1101(27)
(i) who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court located in the United States or whom such a court has legally committed to, or placed under the custody of, an agency or department of a State and who has been deemed eligible by that court for long‑term foster care due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment;
Juveniles
(ii) for whom it has been determined in administrative or judicial proceedings that it would not be in the alien's best interest to be returned to the alien's or parent's previous country of nationality or country of last habitual residence; and
(iii) in whose case the Attorney General expressly consents to the dependency order serving as a precondition to the grant of special immigrant juvenile status;
Juveniles
(I) no juvenile court has jurisdiction to determine the custody status or placement of an alien in the actual or constructive custody of the Attorney General unless the Attorney General specifically consents to such jurisdiction; and
(II) no natural parent or prior adoptive parent of any alien provided special immigrant status under this subparagraph shall thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under this chapter;
REFUGEE
Any person who is outside any countryoutside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality,is outside any country in which such person last habitually, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fearwell-founded fear of persecutionpersecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opiniona social group, or political opinion.
Persecution
Serious violations of human rights Discrimination Punishment Torture Agents of Persecution:
– Government– Non Government forces that the government is
unable or unwilling to control
Venues for applying for Asylum
Asylum Office
ImmigrationJudge
BoardImm
Appeals
FederalCourts
Lay definition of Torture
Designed to produce pain or suffering Volitional/Intentional For a purpose to extract information With consent of government
Convention Against Torture
Article 1. any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining
from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or
intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is
inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
Convention Against Torture
Article 2No State Party shall expel, return (refouler) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
Article 3For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.
Location in Pennsylvania
Applying for asylum In detention: York, Berks, Lebanon, Carbon
County Jails Non-detention: with friends, family
Working while applying for asylum
Apply for employment authorization Eligible for certain social services Community Legal Services for info on public
benefits and immigration. Sofia Memon: 215 227-2400 x 2436 [email protected]; [email protected]
Summary of Immigrant Visas
Sponsored by a Family Sponsored by a Job Sponsoring yourself (Asylum) Sponsoring yourself (Abuse) Sponsoring yourself (Adjudicated Dependent
Juvenile) Sponsoring yourself (Lottery)
Grounds for Inadmission
1. Health-related grounds.- 2. Criminal and related grounds.-
(ABUSE)
3. Security and related grounds.-4. Public charge5. Labor certification6. Illegal entrants and immigration violators 7. Documentation Requirements. An alien present in the United States without
being admitted or paroled, or who arrives in the United States at any time or place other than as designated by the General, is inadmissible.
8. Ineligible for citizenship9. Aliens Previously removed10. Miscellaneous (Polygamists; Abductors)
HIV Waiver Asylees, refugees:
– family unity,humanitarian purposes or public interest" concerns
Lawful permanent residents– husbands or wives of US citizens or lawful permanent
residents; – unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens or lawful
permanent residents; or parents of US citizens or lawful permanent residents.
1.Minimal danger to the public health, 2.Minimal possibility of the spread of HIV, and 3.No cost to a government agency without that agency's prior
consent
Grounds for Removal
1. Inadmissible at time of entry or of adjustment of status or violates status.- Any alien who at the time of entry or adjustment of status was within one or more of the classes of aliens inadmissible by the law existing at such time is deportable.
2. Criminal offenses.-(Abuse)
3. Failure to register and falsification of documents.-
4. Security and related grounds.-
5. Public charge.-
6. Unlawful voters.-Any alien who has voted in violation of any Federal, State, or local provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation is deportable.
Citizenship
Citizenship by parentage Citizenship by birth in US soil Citizenship by application
Permanent Resident vs.Citizen
Lawful permanent resident = Green card holder = Permanent resident
Different from
Citizen =
Naturalized citizen
Citizenship by ApplicationNaturalization
citizen of the United States upon his own application who cannot demonstrate- (1) an understanding of the English languageunderstanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write,
and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language: Provided, That the requirements of this relating to ability to read and write shall be met if the applicant can read or
write simple words and phrases to the end that a reasonable test of his literacy shall be
made and that no extraordinary or unreasonable conditions shall be imposed upon the
applicant; and (2) a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the historyfundamentals of the history, and of
the principles and form of government, of the United States.
Requirements Exception
The requirement of subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to any person who, on the date
of the filing of the person's application for naturalization as provided in section 334 ,
either- (A) is over fifty years of ageover fifty years of age and has been living in the United States
for periods totaling at least twenty yearstwenty years subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence, or
(B) is over fifty-five years of agefifty-five years of age and has been living in the United States for periods totaling at least fifteenfifteen years subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence.
Summary
Entering short term– Visitor – student – Temporary Worker
Entering Long term– Family sponsorship– Employment sponsorship– Asylum (Refugee)/Torture
Exclusion Removal Citizenship
Non-profit agencies
Directory of Non-Profit Agencies that Assist Persons in Immigration MattersPublisher: National Immigration Law CenterTelephone: (213) 938-6452
Philadelphia1. Community Legal Services(Language Access Project) 215 981-3700
2. Phila Legal Assistance 215 981-3837 (Violence Against Women)
3. Nationalities Service Center, Joe Hohenstein1300 Spruce Street 215 893-8400
4. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society & Council Migration ServiceJudy Bernstein Baker2100 Arch Street, 3rd Floor 215 832-0900 5. Lutheran Children and Family Services: Joy Van Berg231 N 63rd Street 215 747-7500 202 6. Catholic Social Services, Immigration ProgramPhyllis Forman, 227 N. 18th Street 215 854-7019
Research Tools Statute: 8 U.S.C.A Aliens and Nationality http://www.ins.usdoj.gov
Regulations: 8 C.F.R. Aliens and Nationality http://www.ins.usdoj.gov
INS Operating Instructions (directives that clarify sections of 8 CFR and give notice of policy changes) Cases
Findlaw.com Treatises, Casebooks: Articles: Steel and Kalra Charles Gordon & Stanley Mailman Immigration Law and Procedure (13 volumes, looseleaf) Matthew Bender Weissbrodt, David Immigration Law and Procedure in a Nutshell West Publishing Corp Aleinikoff, Martin, Motomura Immigration Process and Policy (3rd ed.) West Publishing Corp Interpreter Releases Federal Publications
Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research REPORTS: http://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/report.html
http://www.albany.edu/mumford/Center_Act/Act_frame.html
SORTABLE LIST of Latino communities across USA:
http://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/HispanicPop/HspSort/TotHspSort.htm
--------------------------------------
Physical and Psychological Issues in Treating Survivors of Torture
What is Torture ?Torture is a tool to:
Exert actual confessions, information, etc. Break Individual spirit Create Community control
Torture has long lasting effects on individuals
Physically Emotionally Socially Spiritually
TORTURE (Physical)
Physical beatings Electrical shocks Trauma to specific body parts Sensory Deprivation/Over stimulation
TORTURE (Sexual)
Rape Sodomy Psychological fear of sexual brutality Rape as torture in context of war is different
than rape in non-war context
TORTURE (Psychological)
Humiliation (nakedness) Lack of Control Solitary confinement Symbolic acts to scar the psyche Symbolic acts to make person feel guilty
Physical Torture:
Somatic Complaints
Physical Torture:Somatic Complaints
Beatings to Feet– Falanga or Bastinado (beating bottom of feet)– Sequelae:
Pain, walking on bones of feet Weakness in the Limbs
Physical Torture:Somatic Complaints
Beating to head– Ears, head, teeth– Sequelae
Headaches Fatigue Dizziness Sensitivity to light and sound
Physical Torture:Somatic Complaints
Suspension (Being put in unatural position– Hanging upside down– Sequelae:
Muscular/Skletal disorder Complex nueral pain Stomach Pain Menstrual Irregularities
Physical Torture:Somatic Complaints
Suffocation Dfsdafsda asdfasdfsad
– Bags– Fluid or Gas)
Common Physical Signs of Torture
Skin Skin diseases, lacerations, burns, puncture wounds, and lesions
Face Fracture, crepitation, swelling pain
Nose Fracture, change in alignment, and nasal septal deviation
Eyes Hemorrhages, lens dislocation, visual loss
Jaw/ Pharynx/ Neck
Fractures, dislocations, lesions, gingival hemorrhages, and gum conditions
Physical Signs of Torture (continued)
Oral Cavity/Teeth Avulsions, fractures, dislocated and broken fillings and prostheses
Chest and Abdomen Lesions, tenderness, injuries to ribs, internal organs, retroperitoneal, intramuscularity and intro abdominal hematomas
Musculoskeletal System
Aches and pains, reduced mobility, contractures, weakness, fractures and dislocations
Physical Signs of Torture (cont.)
Genitourinary Systems (female)
Bruises, lacerations, tears, bleeding, vaginal discharge, STD’s , HIV, scaring, deformity
Genitourinary System (male)
Pain and sensitivity, hydrocele, hematocele, srsctile dysfunction, anal fissures, rectal tears, scaring, atrophy of the testes, disruption of rugal pattern (scaring), purulent drainage
Central Nervous System/ Brain
Cognitive changes, motor and sensory deficits, abnormal gait
Psychological TorturePsychological Manifestations
Distrust
Why doing this How much getting paid Interpreters Truth as luxury
Guilt
Sole survivor Here vs. being there Leaving or letting down your cause How do I help my people here
Shame
Evil inside them Deserving of Torture Will harm other people Shame of immigrants
Disassociation
Begins as defense mechanism Becomes an ineffective “coping skill”
Anxiety
Torture-specific phobias Generalized high levels of “nervousness” Fear of deportation Concern about children (here and away) Vigilance
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Traumatic event Re-living the event Avoidance Hyperarousal Impatience
Mediating Factors
Torture Related (frequency, duration, repeated exposure, intensity, preparedness)
Developmental (age, cognitive ability, life role, education)
Personal (personal history, family history, genetic predisposition)
Spiritual (meaning, religious or political belief system)
Social (survival of family, friends, group, isolation)
Developmental triple trauma
Country of origin torture trauma Flight torture trauma New immigrant trauma
Country of origin torture trauma
Living in a controlled/oppressive situation Living in fear Hiding Vigilance Detentions Societal sanctions Threats against self, family Torture
Flight torture trauma
Documentation Fleeing Who you left behind How you got to a safe country Did you get “caught” entering without
inspection Fear of future/fear of past Difficult travel conditions
Immigration Trauma
Resettlement High expectations PTSD symptoms Language barriers Cultural differences Isolation Survivor’s Guilt Economic need
Treatment
Strength Based Multimodal Approach Address immediate social service needs Reduce Psychiatric Symptoms Appropriate Medical Care Hope Restoration
Liberty Center for Survivors of Torutre
5902 N. 5th StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19120
Dr. Denise Michultka215 276-5500 x [email protected]
Needs of Liberty Center for Survivor of Torture
Human Resources Public Awareness Funding Suport
Human Resources
Therapists – Psychologists– Social Workers
Interpreters Volunteers
– Take survivor on outing– Assist survivor’s child with tutoring
Public Awareness
Professional organization annual conference Your own workplace professional
development seminars Your place or workship
Funding
Writing letter to Congress Writing Check to the Center
Liberty Center for Survivors of Torutre
231 N. 63th StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19139
Dr. Denise Michultka215 747-7500 x [email protected]