Title: Overview of Legal, Health and Mental Health Issues: Immigrants, Refugees and Survivors of Torture
1Overview of Legal, Health and Mental Health
IssuesImmigrants, Refugees and Survivors of
Torture
- Denise Michultka, Ph.D.
- Liberty Center for Survivors of Torture
- 231 N. 63rd Street
- Philadelphia, PA 19139
- 215 747-7500 x 249
- soft_at_lcfsinpa.org
2Overview
- Entering short term
- Entering Long term
- Family sponsorship
- Employment sponsorship
- Refugee
- Exclusion (Inadmission)
- Removal
- Citizenship
3Sources of Law
- Law Implementation Interpretation
Dept of Homeland Security BICE BICS BIBP
Courts
Congress (Before 9/11) After 9/11 DHS Policy
4Non immigrant methods of entry
- Non-immigrant
- Short term visas
- Temporary visas
5Short 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
-
6Short 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,
7Short 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,
8Short 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
9Short 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
10Summary Short Term Visas
- Tourists
- Students
- Fiance(e)
- Temporary Workers
11Immigrant VisasLong term
- Sponsored by a Family
- Sponsored by a Job
- Sponsoring yourself (Asylum)
- Sponsoring yourself (Abuse)
- Sponsoring yourself (Adjudicated Dependent
Juvenile) - Sponsoring yourself (Lottery)
12Long TermImmigrant 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 of - the 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.
13Visa Bulletin
All 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
14Long 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.
15Visa Bulletin
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed India Mexico Philippines
1st Priority Workers C 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
5th investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, C C C C
16Violence 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
17Special 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
18Juveniles
- (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
19Juveniles
- (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
20REFUGEE
- Any person who is outside 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 fear of persecution
on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a social group, or political
opinion.
21Persecution
- Serious violations of human rights
- Discrimination
- Punishment
- Torture
- Agents of Persecution
- Government
- Non Government forces that the government is
unable or unwilling to control
22 - Venues for applying for Asylum
Board Imm Appeals
Federal Courts
Immigration Judge
Asylum Office
23Lay definition of Torture
- Designed to produce pain or suffering
- Volitional/Intentional
- For a purpose to extract information
- With consent of government
24Convention 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.
25Convention Against Torture
- Article 2
- No 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 3
- For 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.
26(No Transcript)
27Location in Pennsylvania
- Applying for asylum
- In detention York, Berks, Lebanon, Carbon County
Jails - Non-detention with friends, family
28Working 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
- sof74_at_hotmail.com smemon_at_clsphila.org
29Summary 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)
30Grounds for Inadmission
- Health-related grounds.-
- Criminal and related grounds.-
- (ABUSE)
- Security and related grounds.-
- Public charge
- Labor certification
- Illegal entrants and immigration violators
- 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. - Ineligible for citizenship
- Aliens Previously removed
- Miscellaneous (Polygamists Abductors)
31HIV 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
32Grounds for Removal
- 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. - Criminal offenses.-(Abuse)
- Failure to register and falsification of
documents.- - Security and related grounds.-
- Public charge.-
- Unlawful voters.-Any alien who has voted in
violation of any Federal, State, or local
provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation is
deportable.
33Citizenship
- Citizenship by parentage
- Citizenship by birth in US soil
- Citizenship by application
34Permanent Resident vs.Citizen
- Lawful permanent resident
- Green card holder
- Permanent resident
- Different from
- Citizen
- Naturalized citizen
35Citizenship by ApplicationNaturalization
- citizen of the United States upon his own
application who cannot demonstrate- - (1) an understanding 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 history, and of the
principles and form of government, of the United
States.
36Requirements 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 age and has been
living in the United States for periods totaling
at least twenty years subsequent to a lawful
admission for permanent residence, or - (B) is over fifty-five years of age and has
been living in the United States for periods
totaling at least fifteen years subsequent to a
lawful admission for permanent residence.
37Summary
- Entering short term
- Visitor student Temporary Worker
- Entering Long term
- Family sponsorship
- Employment sponsorship
- Asylum (Refugee)/Torture
- Exclusion
- Removal
- Citizenship
38Non-profit agenciesDirectory of Non-Profit
Agencies that Assist Persons in Immigration
MattersPublisher National Immigration Law
CenterTelephone (213) 938-6452
- Philadelphia
- 1. Community Legal Services(Language Access
Project) 215 981-3700 - 2. Phila Legal Assistance 215 981-3837 (Violence
Against Women) - 3. Nationalities Service Center, Joe Hohenstein
- 1300 Spruce Street 215 893-8400
- 4. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Council
Migration Service - Judy Bernstein Baker
- 2100 Arch Street, 3rd Floor 215 832-0900
-
- 5. Lutheran Children and Family Services Joy Van
Berg - 231 N 63rd Street 215 747-7500 202
-
- 6. Catholic Social Services, Immigration Program
- Phyllis Forman, 227 N. 18th Street 215
854-7019 -
39Research 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
40- 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/Hsp
Sort/TotHspSort.htm - --------------------------------------
41Physical and Psychological Issues in Treating
Survivors of Torture
42What is Torture ?Torture is a tool to
- Exert actual confessions, information, etc.
- Break Individual spirit
- Create Community control
43Torture has long lasting effects on individuals
- Physically
- Emotionally
- Socially
- Spiritually
44TORTURE (Physical)
- Physical beatings
- Electrical shocks
- Trauma to specific body parts
- Sensory Deprivation/Over stimulation
45TORTURE (Sexual)
- Rape
- Sodomy
- Psychological fear of sexual brutality
- Rape as torture in context of war is different
than rape in non-war context
46TORTURE (Psychological)
- Humiliation (nakedness)
- Lack of Control
- Solitary confinement
- Symbolic acts to scar the psyche
- Symbolic acts to make person feel guilty
47- Physical Torture
- Somatic Complaints
48Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
- Beatings to Feet
- Falanga or Bastinado (beating bottom of feet)
- Sequelae
- Pain, walking on bones of feet
- Weakness in the Limbs
49Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
- Beating to head
- Ears, head, teeth
- Sequelae
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Sensitivity to light and sound
50Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
- Suspension (Being put in unatural position
- Hanging upside down
- Sequelae
- Muscular/Skletal disorder
- Complex nueral pain
- Stomach Pain
- Menstrual Irregularities
51Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
- Suffocation
- Dfsdafsda
- asdfasdfsad
- Bags
- Fluid or Gas)
52Common 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
53Physical 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
54Physical Signs of Torture (cont.)
Genitourinary Systems (female) Bruises, lacerations, tears, bleeding, vaginal discharge, STDs , 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
55- Psychological TorturePsychological Manifestations
56Distrust
- Why doing this
- How much getting paid
- Interpreters
- Truth as luxury
57Guilt
- Sole survivor
- Here vs. being there
- Leaving or letting down your cause
- How do I help my people here
58Shame
- Evil inside them
- Deserving of Torture
- Will harm other people
- Shame of immigrants
59Disassociation
- Begins as defense mechanism
- Becomes an ineffective coping skill
60Anxiety
- Torture-specific phobias
- Generalized high levels of nervousness
- Fear of deportation
- Concern about children (here and away)
- Vigilance
61Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Traumatic event
- Re-living the event
- Avoidance
- Hyperarousal
- Impatience
62Mediating 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)
63Developmental triple trauma
- Country of origin torture trauma
- Flight torture trauma
- New immigrant trauma
64Country of origin torture trauma
- Living in a controlled/oppressive situation
- Living in fear
- Hiding
- Vigilance
- Detentions
- Societal sanctions
- Threats against self, family
- Torture
65Flight 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
66Immigration Trauma
- Resettlement
- High expectations
- PTSD symptoms
- Language barriers
- Cultural differences
- Isolation
- Survivors Guilt
- Economic need
67Treatment
- Strength Based Multimodal Approach
- Address immediate social service needs
- Reduce Psychiatric Symptoms
- Appropriate Medical Care
- Hope Restoration
68Liberty Center for Survivors of Torutre
- 5902 N. 5th Street
- Philadelphia, PA 19120
- Dr. Denise Michultka
- 215 276-5500 x 211
- densiem_at_lcfsinpa.org
69Needs of Liberty Center for Survivor of Torture
- Human Resources
- Public Awareness
- Funding Suport
70Human Resources
- Therapists
- Psychologists
- Social Workers
- Interpreters
- Volunteers
- Take survivor on outing
- Assist survivors child with tutoring
71Public Awareness
- Professional organization annual conference
- Your own workplace professional development
seminars - Your place or workship
72Funding
- Writing letter to Congress
- Writing Check to the Center
73Liberty Center for Survivors of Torutre
- 231 N. 63th Street
- Philadelphia, PA 19139
- Dr. Denise Michultka
- 215 747-7500 x 249
- densiem_at_lcfsinpa.org