US Signals that Spouse Abuse May Now Be Grounds for Asylum

Beyond the Veil| In a move that could signal a change in US policy on granting political asylum for foreign women facing domestic abuse, the Obama administration will allow a Guatemalan woman Rody Alvarado Peña full asylum.

Jayne Fleming, a lawyer specializing in asylum at the San Francisco office of the law firm Reed Smith, called the recommendation “a giant step forward.” Advocates and immigration judges, Ms Fleming said, “now have some pretty solid guidelines from D.H.S.” via NYTimes

Being clear that each case must be judged on its own merits, the Department of Homeland Security is rewriting asylum guidelines for the mostly women seeking refuge in the US as victims of abuse. A