AIS TOOLKIT: FY23 APPROPRIATIONS
Take Action Today to Back Critical Protections
for Immigrant Survivors
The Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Appropriations process is an opportunity for Congress to enhance critical and life-saving protections for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other gender-based abuses. By funding key programs in FY23, Congress can alleviate onerous barriers immigrant survivors and their families face while seeking safety and stability.
Right now, the various subcommittees in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are drafting the legislation. They have given their colleagues deadlines to submit requests for their priorities. This is the moment to call our members and ensure our key asks for immigrant survivors are included in those priorities.
In FY22, we saw a modest increase in funds to survivor-centered programs, including culturally-sensitive programs. While this is a step forward, we need a robustly funded U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to ensure protections and services for immigrant survivors. This FY23, we must ensure that USCIS has enough funding and resources to recapture unused U-visas, process applications, and grant employment authorization in a timely manner.
In the FY23 Appropriations process, Congress MUST:
Fund USCIS to recapture unused U-visas and to address U visa backlogs and make the U visa program more accessible. Currently, survivors are experiencing egregious delays in the processing of their U visas. There are nearly 280,000 individuals with pending U visa matters and the processing time it takes just to place these cases on the waitlist is over five years. Significant delays can subject survivors and their families to additional risks of violence, exploitation, manipulation, and trauma. USCIS must be given authority to recapture over 80,000 unused visa numbers and allocate the resources required to address these backlogs so survivors have true pathways to safety and security.
Fund USCIS to ensure work authorization is provided within 180 days of application. Timely access to employment authorization is critical to immigrant survivors’ ability to escape violence and provide for themselves and their families. Without access to financial independence, survivors are more vulnerable and may endure the pain and trauma of returning to abusive relationships or face homelessness. We must provide survivors with real opportunities to leave and build back from violence. We are heartened that USCIS has already begun implementing the Bona Fide Determination (BFD) process to provide survivors with access to employment authorization. In order for USCIS to successfully implement the program, they must be provided with resources for sufficient staffing and capacity.
Prohibit DHS funding from being used to detain or deport survivors with pending immigration cases. Threats of deportation are one of the most potent tools abusers and perpetrators of crime use to maintain control over and silence immigrant survivors. Abusers and perpetrators leverage the immigration system against immigrant survivors, who fear losing their job, being deported, or even separated from their children if they speak out. Detention and removal of those with victim-based cases also undermines the intent of programs like VAWA. Deporting VAWA self-petitioners while they await their decisions on cases discourages survivors from seeking justice and undermines the usefulness of these forms of relief as tools for law enforcement to keep all communities safe. It is critical that we protect immigrant survivors from deportation or detention, which can only cause further harm and trauma.
TAKE ACTION
Your local advocacy is key to creating critical advances for immigrant survivors of violence! Please feel free to use the content in this toolkit to customize templates to your organization’s mission, voice, and the communities you serve. If you have an existing relationship with your Congress member and would like more resources or information, please feel free to reach out to us!
Contact Your Member of Congress and Ask Them to Protect Immigrant Survivors!
Sample Email Script for Scheduling a Visit
My name is [NAME] and I work at/volunteer with [ORGANIZATION]. We work with [ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS/ GROUPS] and we would like to request a meeting with Congressperson [NAME] to discuss critical protections for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence.
As Congress works on the FY23 appropriations process, we would like to share with you the urgent need for investments in VAWA and FVPSA programs to ensure immigrant survivors of justice have pathways to safety and stability. We’d also like to discuss the immense hardship survivors face while they are waiting for their immigration cases to be decided by USCIS, which can take years, and the critical need to adequately fund USCIS. [Identify who will be coming from your office and other agencies.]
We are available on the following days and times and would need less than an hour of the Congressperson’s time [LIST DATE/TIMES]. Please let me know if and when Congressperson [NAME] is available to meet. We would greatly appreciate the chance to meet to discuss these important issues further. Thank you for your time and help, and please contact me at [email address] if you need additional information.
Sample Email Script for Urging Your Member of Congress to Protect Immigrant Survivors during Appropriations:
Dear [Congress Member]
My name is [NAME] and I am a resident of [CITY/STATE] and I am a voter in Representative [NAME’s] district.
I am writing to urge you to ensure Congress protects immigrant survivors during the appropriations process. Because immigrant survivors face so many barriers to accessing safety and justice, we ask Representative [NAME] to prioritize the needs of immigrant survivors. This includes investments in lifesaving programs for survivors and funding USCIS to improve the U visa program. [INCLUDE ANY INFO FROM ABOVE]
As the [TITLE/ ORGANIZATION], these asks are critical and necessary to the communities we serve because [ADD YOUR PERSPECTIVE / ANY STORIES]
Spread Awareness on Social Media!
Tag us at @4ImmSurvivors on Twitter and use the hashtag #ImmigrantSurvivors. Feel free to share this page: https://www.immigrantsurvivors.org/appropriations-2023 and the graphics included on this page!
See suggested posts below for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that you can use to help raise awareness about the importance of protecting immigrant survivors in FY23. Include a tag for your Member of Congress and/or Senator! To find their Twitter handles, see this list for both Representatives and Senators or this one for just the Senate.
Sample Tweets:
Appropriations is an opportunity to provide critical protections for #ImmigrantSurvivors. Congress MUST fund USCIS to address the backlog of U visa cases and ensure timely access to employment authorization.
[Tag your Member] #ImmigrantSurvivors cannot wait. Congress must allocate full funds to lifesaving programs and USCIS to ensure immigrant survivors can realize true pathways to safety.
Significant delays in processing U visas for #ImmigrantSurvivors of violence puts them at risk of violence, exploitation, and trauma. Congress must fully fund USCIS to address these harmful backlogs so survivors have true pathways to safety and security.
#ImmigrantSurvivors should never fear detention or deportation while seeking safety and building back from violence. Congress MUST prevent DHS funding from being used to detain or deport survivors with pending immigration cases. [ADD GRAPHIC]
Sample Instagram and Facebook captions and graphics:
Appropriations FY22 is an opportunity to provide critical protections for #ImmigrantSurvivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other gender-based abuses. Join us in calling on Congress to demand critical protections for immigrant survivors so they can realize true pathways to safety and security. [ADD GRAPHIC FROM ABOVE OR SERIES BELOW]
[Tag your member] Investments in VAWA and FVPSA are urgent and necessary to provide immigrant survivors with stable and safe pathways to protection. #ImmigrantSurvivors face many barriers to justice and safety, and Congress must prioritize their needs during the Appropriations FY23 process. [ADD GRAPHIC]
The Alliance for Immigrant Survivors is a national network of advocates and allies dedicated to defending and advocating for policies that ensure immigrant survivors of gender-based violence have access to critical and life-saving protections. For questions or inquiries, please email info@immigrantsurvivors.org.