Comment Submitted by Protect Victims Of Sexual Violence

Re: Clarification of Discretionary Employment Authorization for Certain Aliens I'm writing to oppose this proposal, although I don't know if anyone actually reads these comments and understand what kind of impact they are having to hundreds of thousands of innocent people, given the current landscape of politics. I was sexually assaulted and raped and wanted nothing to do with this country at that point. After endless conversations with victim advocates, the detective, an officer, and two attorneys, they convinced me to file for the U Visa so that I would stay and help the investigation and the prosecution of the rapist. What followed was months and months of repeating the worst day of my life over and over again to strangers in person and on the phone. Local organizations were helpful, they got me out of the shelter for battered women and put me in an apartment after I had spent seven days in suicide watch from the stress and trauma. They called and checked on me for a year until I got my Deferred Action and Bona Fide Determination. No one told me that there is a 11-year backlog for the U Visa at the time of filing and I had to join a litigation lawsuit just so I could work legally and feed myself as I continued to aid the investigation until the end. I knew it was the right thing to do, but recently, I wish I hadn't done it for it has come at a great personal cost I could not have imagined. They told me the government created the U Visa Program to protect victims like me so we would come forward without fear. I didn't expect that the greatest fear in my life would be the very process I was encouraged to participate in. After building my life back from absolutely nothing, I began to heal from the trauma with mental and physical therapy. I thought life would finally resemble something normal again until I had to renew my work authorization. As of today, the renewal paperwork has been pending for 281 days while USCIS website still says to renew EAD at 180 days. I'm looking at a potential difficult conversation with my employer and a month or two of no income, all while following the laws at every turn. The old wound has reopened once again and I live in constant panic attacks everyday as I wait for the promise that was made 5 years ago. The government offers the U visa program to victims like me with the promise of protection and stability. Yet, within the first few months of 2025, a new ICE Memo was introduced to allow victims of violence and sexual crimes to be detained. Bona fide determination renewal process is taking closer to a year than the six month notice still on the USCIS website. And now, this piece of regulation is at work. This isn't what Congress intended for the program. I understand that U visa fraud cases are rising as bad actors abuse the system for work authorization, but victims of violent crimes and war refugees don't deserve to be re-victimized because of the actions of a few bad actors. This new regulation means whatever stability U visa applicants were promised to was effectively gone and there will be something to remind us for the violence every year. This regulation means every U visa applicant has to send 15-20 renewal applications until their U visa is appored due to the current backlog. The backlog isn't our fault and has nothing to do with our eligibility. In fact, I had no idea the backlog existed until I had already filed my application. Right now, my current work authorization have taken over nine months with no approval in sight. With the current processing delay, stable employment will have been effectively taken away from victims of crimes, sexual violence, and wars. How is DHS addressing the reliance interest being harmed by this regulation? USCIS has collected my biometrics twice as of 2026 and is, at their discretion, free to run background check again at any point, how exactly collecting the same two fingerprints every year is going make the country a safer place since this would mean crime victims will not come forward anymore? Many women like me have children who are U.S. citizens. If I cannot work, who is going to feed them, clothe them, and pay for the roof over their heads until they are 21 or I am a Green card holder in 2036 for an application filed in 2021? Whoever is on otherside of this conversation should consider the people and the unimaginable lives they have lived. The U.S. government created humanitarian programs for humanitarian reasons. Humane treatment of people shouldn't be subjected to political debates. It's just the right thing to do as a person to another person. As a sexual assault and domestic abuse survivor, I sincerely urge DHS to rescind this regulation in its entirety, not as a matter of political ideology, but a matter of being human.