Browse our publications to learn more about how we support immigrant survivors of gender-based violence through service in communities, courts, and Congress.
In response to the February 18, 2022 non-binding opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton and subsequent letter from Governor Greg Abbott to Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters, the Tahirih Justice Center along with the undersigned 55 mental health organizations, child welfare organizations, and advocates write to express intense concern about any further action that would, by policy, practice, or statute, define gender-affirming care as child abuse and/or neglect. Any attempt to characterize gender-affirming care, including medical and mental health treatment, as “child abuse” carries significant potential negative consequences for families, transgender children and adults, mental health and medical professionals, as well as for professionals working in and around the child welfare system.
This year, yet again, Maryland senators have weakened a bill that seeks to end child marriage. Presented with a strong bill rooted in years of bi-partisan compromise, the amended version the Senate passed on Monday does almost nothing to protect children from abuse and exploitation under the guise of marriage. It maintains some of the most dangerous exceptions, including pregnancy and parental consent, and keeps Maryland in a position of being a regional destination for child marriage.
This amended bill has no resemblance to the initial bill the Tahirih Justice Center helped draft. While states like Texas, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, and Virginia have all passed similar reforms which have been working effectively. Meanwhile, other states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, New York and Minnesota have passed bright line 18 bills. It is frustrating that the Maryland Senate can’t seem to accept that it is just good public policy to do all we can to protect children from the harms of child marriage.
Nonetheless, we are hopeful the House will pass the bill out as written, as they have every year since we began this campaign in 2016. When it crosses over, we hope the Senate takes the opportunity to finally prioritize the protection of children and bring Maryland out of the dark ages when it comes to child marriage.
For further comments on this topic, please email [email protected]
Tahirih filed a comment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on ways to minimize the separation of families who enter the United States. The comment notes that family separation amounts to torture and recommends that the administration abandon the misuse of Title 42, the Migrant Protection Protocols, and detention and deportation to separate families
Tahirih, along with the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence and other partner organizations, filed comments with the Department of State (DOS) concerning the public charge ground of inadmissibility. The comment urges DOS to enact a public charge rule that addresses the needs of survivors of domestic and other gender-based violence.
Tahirih and the Immigrant Center for Women and Children filed comments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement concerning its proposal to continue using an anonymous “tip” form for suspected immigration violations. The comment notes that use of the form will, in many cases, both harm survivors of domestic violence and violate the confidentiality provisions of the Violence Against Women Act.
“Tahirih and partner organizations filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in support of petitioners seeking to require USCIS to adjudicate the work authorization applications they filed in conjunction with U-visa petitions. The brief explains the history of the U-visa program and the critical importance of work authorization to U-visa petitioners and argues that the federal courts have the authority to consider the plaintiffs’ claims that waiting more than four years for work authorization constitutes an unreasonable delay.”
Tahirih sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement concerning the methods of delivery that should be used for immigration court notices used as the basis for an in absentia order of removal. The letter stresses that ICE must account for the effects of trauma on people seeking asylum and coordinate its address lists with the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
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