Editorial

The Women's Freedom Network Newsletter January/February, 2000, Vol. 7, Number 1. More Problems With Deportation of Immigrant Women by Rita J. Simon

B ecause of a 1996 law that requires the deportation of legal immigrants convicted of domestic violence, 30 year old Maria Sanchez of Guatemala may be forced to return to her native country. Ms. Sanchez, the mother of two daughters, 9 and 10 years old, has been abused by her husband since 1988, when at 18 years old she arrived in Washington from Guatemala and moved in with her then boyfriend. According to Sanchez, the beatings began a few months later. They involved slamming her against the wall, punching her face and dislocating her jaw, dragging her across the floor by the hair, kicking her, and choking her into unconsciousness. He also barred her from leaving their apartment without his permission, forbade her from having visitors, and every evening when he returned home, he checked on the phone calls she might have made or received.

Fairfax police records show that they responded to the Sanchez-Acevedo home five times in six years for domestic disputes. None of the officers spoke or understood Spanish and Sanchez understood and spoke very little English. On two out of three occasions, the police arrested her husband, and on one occasion no one was arrested. The first time Acevedo pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault. The judge ordered him to attend an anger management class and then set aside the conviction after a year of good behavior. The next time Acevedo was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, the prosecutors dropped the charge. In December 1997, Acevedo made plans to take the girls away from their mother. When Sanchez tried to stop him he called the police. The officers arrested her, and a month later court records show she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault. The judge agreed to dismiss the case if she stayed out of trouble for 6 months. But a few months later the police were called again by Acevedo. According to Sanchez after Acevedo had sat on her, and beat her so hard he knocked the wind out of her, she bit him on the shoulder. When the police came Acevedo explained, in English, to the police that Sanchez started the fight and bit him. Sanchez reports that she tried to tell them what happened, but the police laughed at her and took her away. Sanchez claims that she did not plead guilty. She also reports that the interpreter had her sign forms without translating them. According to the Washington Post (February 20, 2000 p. 18) the interpreter in Sanchez's trial failed to pass her certification exam after three attempts.

In May, Maria Sanchez goes before an immigration judge at which time she faces deportation. The Washington Post in its February 20th account reports that Sanchez has been hiding from her husband since the last attack. She says, "I can never be calm or all peace anymore because I'm always scared of him." She is also fearful that if she is deported he can follow her to Guatemala and beat her.

Since 1995 the INS has issued guidelines more favorable to immigrant women facing abuse. These guidelines need to be activated in the case of Maria Sanchez, who should not be deported. She has been the victim -- not the perpetrator of domestic violence.