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Title: Overview of Legal, Health and Mental Health Issues: Immigrants, Refugees and Survivors of Torture


1
Overview 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

2
Overview
  • Entering short term
  • Entering Long term
  • Family sponsorship
  • Employment sponsorship
  • Refugee
  • Exclusion (Inadmission)
  • Removal
  • Citizenship

3
Sources of Law
  • Law Implementation Interpretation

Dept of Homeland Security BICE BICS BIBP
Courts
Congress (Before 9/11) After 9/11 DHS Policy
4
Non immigrant methods of entry
  • Non-immigrant
  • Short term visas
  • Temporary visas

5
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

6
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,

7
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,

8
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

9
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

10
Summary Short Term Visas
  • Tourists
  • Students
  • Fiance(e)
  • Temporary Workers

11
Immigrant VisasLong term
  • Sponsored by a Family
  • Sponsored by a Job
  • Sponsoring yourself (Asylum)
  • Sponsoring yourself (Abuse)
  • Sponsoring yourself (Adjudicated Dependent
    Juvenile)
  • Sponsoring yourself (Lottery)

12
Long 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.

13
Visa 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
14
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.

15
Visa 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
16
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

17
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

18
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

19
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

20
REFUGEE
  • 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.

21
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

22
  • Venues for applying for Asylum

Board Imm Appeals
Federal Courts
Immigration Judge
Asylum Office
23
Lay definition of Torture
  • Designed to produce pain or suffering
  • Volitional/Intentional
  • For a purpose to extract information
  • With consent of government

24
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.

25
Convention 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)
27
Location in Pennsylvania
  • Applying for asylum
  • In detention York, Berks, Lebanon, Carbon County
    Jails
  • Non-detention with friends, family

28
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
  • sof74_at_hotmail.com smemon_at_clsphila.org

29
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)

30
Grounds 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)

31
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

32
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.

33
Citizenship
  • Citizenship by parentage
  • Citizenship by birth in US soil
  • Citizenship by application

34
Permanent Resident vs.Citizen
  • Lawful permanent resident
  • Green card holder
  • Permanent resident
  • Different from
  • Citizen
  • Naturalized citizen

35
Citizenship 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.

36
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 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.

37
Summary
  • Entering short term
  • Visitor student Temporary Worker
  • Entering Long term
  • Family sponsorship
  • Employment sponsorship
  • Asylum (Refugee)/Torture
  • Exclusion
  • Removal
  • Citizenship

38
Non-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
  •  

39
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

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
  • --------------------------------------

41
Physical and Psychological Issues in Treating
Survivors of Torture
42
What is Torture ?Torture is a tool to
  • Exert actual confessions, information, etc.
  • Break Individual spirit
  • Create Community control

43
Torture has long lasting effects on individuals
  • Physically
  • Emotionally
  • Socially
  • Spiritually

44
TORTURE (Physical)
  • Physical beatings
  • Electrical shocks
  • Trauma to specific body parts
  • Sensory Deprivation/Over stimulation

45
TORTURE (Sexual)
  • Rape
  • Sodomy
  • Psychological fear of sexual brutality
  • Rape as torture in context of war is different
    than rape in non-war context

46
TORTURE (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

48
Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
  • Beatings to Feet
  • Falanga or Bastinado (beating bottom of feet)
  • Sequelae
  • Pain, walking on bones of feet
  • Weakness in the Limbs

49
Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
  • Beating to head
  • Ears, head, teeth
  • Sequelae
  • Headaches
  • Fatigue
  • Dizziness
  • Sensitivity to light and sound

50
Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
  • Suspension (Being put in unatural position
  • Hanging upside down
  • Sequelae
  • Muscular/Skletal disorder
  • Complex nueral pain
  • Stomach Pain
  • Menstrual Irregularities

51
Physical TortureSomatic Complaints
  • Suffocation
  • Dfsdafsda
  • asdfasdfsad
  • Bags
  • Fluid or Gas)

52
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
53
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
54
Physical 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

56
Distrust
  • Why doing this
  • How much getting paid
  • Interpreters
  • Truth as luxury

57
Guilt
  • Sole survivor
  • Here vs. being there
  • Leaving or letting down your cause
  • How do I help my people here

58
Shame
  • Evil inside them
  • Deserving of Torture
  • Will harm other people
  • Shame of immigrants

59
Disassociation
  • Begins as defense mechanism
  • Becomes an ineffective coping skill

60
Anxiety
  • Torture-specific phobias
  • Generalized high levels of nervousness
  • Fear of deportation
  • Concern about children (here and away)
  • Vigilance

61
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Traumatic event
  • Re-living the event
  • Avoidance
  • Hyperarousal
  • Impatience

62
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)

63
Developmental triple trauma
  • Country of origin torture trauma
  • Flight torture trauma
  • New immigrant trauma

64
Country of origin torture trauma
  • Living in a controlled/oppressive situation
  • Living in fear
  • Hiding
  • Vigilance
  • Detentions
  • Societal sanctions
  • Threats against self, family
  • Torture

65
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

66
Immigration Trauma
  • Resettlement
  • High expectations
  • PTSD symptoms
  • Language barriers
  • Cultural differences
  • Isolation
  • Survivors Guilt
  • Economic need

67
Treatment
  • Strength Based Multimodal Approach
  • Address immediate social service needs
  • Reduce Psychiatric Symptoms
  • Appropriate Medical Care
  • Hope Restoration

68
Liberty Center for Survivors of Torutre
  • 5902 N. 5th Street
  • Philadelphia, PA 19120
  • Dr. Denise Michultka
  • 215 276-5500 x 211
  • densiem_at_lcfsinpa.org

69
Needs of Liberty Center for Survivor of Torture
  • Human Resources
  • Public Awareness
  • Funding Suport

70
Human Resources
  • Therapists
  • Psychologists
  • Social Workers
  • Interpreters
  • Volunteers
  • Take survivor on outing
  • Assist survivors child with tutoring

71
Public Awareness
  • Professional organization annual conference
  • Your own workplace professional development
    seminars
  • Your place or workship

72
Funding
  • Writing letter to Congress
  • Writing Check to the Center

73
Liberty Center for Survivors of Torutre
  • 231 N. 63th Street
  • Philadelphia, PA 19139
  • Dr. Denise Michultka
  • 215 747-7500 x 249
  • densiem_at_lcfsinpa.org
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