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ARMS Email System Page 1 of 2 RECORD TYPE: FEDERAL (NOTES MAIL) CREATOR: DENNIS HENGSTEBECK <[email protected] ( DENNIS HENGSTEBECK <dhengstebeck@ CREATION DATE/TIME: 9-JAN-2001 15:15:14.00 SUBJECT: domestico abuse & the BIA's decision TO: [email protected] ( [email protected] [ UNKNOWN ] ) READ UNKNOWN TEXT: Dear Mrs. Gore, I am writing to urge you to reverse the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision in the Matter of Rodi Alvarado Pea. This matter requires your immediate attention before you leave office, because 1) the BIA's decision is already being used to deny women's asylum in cases around the country, and 2) because with the advent of a new administration, the future of the Proposed Rules to address Gender-Based Asylum claims is uncertain. The BIA reversed an Immigration Judge's 1996 grant of asylum to Rodi Alvarado Pega, and ordered her to be deported to a husband who promises to murder her when she returns. The decision did not question Ms. Alvarado's story and deplored her husband's vicious conduct. However, the BIA rejected the notion that United States asylum law could provide her with any protection. The BIA's decision is seriously flawed and is based on the now discredited belief that domestic violence is not gender motivated. It has serious negative consequences not only for women fleeing domestic violence, but for women fleeing a wide array of serious human rights violations inflicted on them because of their gender The BIA's decision does not represent what we believe as a people to be right, nor does it represent the basic human rights we have pledged as a Nation to uphold. Further, there is no assurance that the recent Proposed Rules to address Gender-Based Asylum claims will ever be finalized. It is within your authority and it is your duty - - to provide a leading decision consonant with our nation's values that will guide future decisions and ensure the protection of abused women refugees now, and for years to come. Please ACT NOW to reverse the BIA's decision in the Matter of R-A before you leave office. I hope that you and your office can do something about this and make a statement that civilized nations cannot allow these atrocities to continue- whether in our own homeland or in another country! Sincerely, Dennis J. Hengstebeck