Report Domestic Violence, Face Deportation

This case illustrates precisely how harsh anti-immigrant laws do so much harm: a domestic violence victim faces deportation because she called the police to report abuse. Instead of addressing the real crime — violence against women — this country would rather expend its resources to detain and deport a hardworking mother for the administrative offense of not being authorized in this country, in the process making domestic abuse victims even more vulnerable.

Bolanos is not a threat to anyone in this country, yet she was put into removal proceedings due to Secure Communities, a program under which local law enforcement reports on the immigration status of anybody charged with a crime to federal authorities. The program is supposed to protect the American people by removing dangerous criminals who happen to be undocumented immigrants from our country, except that few of these oh-so-scary criminals are actually serious offenders. In fact, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) admits that a major chunk of the deportees are guilty of nothing more than entering the country without authorization or overstaying a visa.

Bolanos' great crime? Concerned for her safety during a heated fight with her partner, 28-year-old Maria Bolanos called the police. Then, according to the Washington Post, law enforcement charged her "with illegally selling a $10 phone card to a neighbor." Oh my, what a criminal mastermind, I'm shaking in my boots. Bolanos denied the charge and it was dropped, but she was already entered into removal proceedings, to become one of the many immigrants deported with the aid of taxpayer dollars for simply being in the country sans authorization.

So now Bolanos has born ordered deported away from her home and 21-month-old daughter, a U.S. citizen. "You would have to be crazy to call the police," Bolanos criticized. "I would never call the police again." Just what we need: victims afraid to report violent crime. Advocates have rallied around Bolanos to remedy this unjust, dangerous situation.

At a recent event, Bolanos called out Secure Communities Assistant Director David Venturella on her deportation under that program; on the spot, he said "I’m going to be adamant that you do not fall under that program," but a spokeperson e-mail later corrected that. Did he just not understand how his own program works, or did he lie to avoid looking bad in front of a roomful of advocates by admitting that Secure Communities targeted a domestic violence victim?

Stand up for domestic violence victims' safety by urging that Maria Bolanos' deportation order be rescinded.

Photo credit: ghetto_guera29

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