The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was given a new lease on life by the House of Representatives last week; it included new protections for some aliens, but none for citizen spouses often falsely accused of abusing their alien wives.
VAWA does not have permanent authorization, and its authorization had lapsed in recent months; the Senate may very well pass a different extension of the bill, and thus set up a House-Senate conference committee. VAWA will not be revived until both houses agree to its extension terms and it is signed into law by the president.
I have no objection to the additional protections for the aliens, usually wives — taking away guns from their current or ex-spouses — but I do object to the lopsided immigration segments of the bill.
These allow USCIS to grant temporary, and later permanent, green cards to aliens claiming spousal abuse — without giving the citizen spouse (usually a male) a chance to rebut the charges, which are sometimes correct, and sometimes just a quick way for the alien to secure a green card. For more on the faults in this legislation see this posting by my colleague Dan Cadman.
An effort is being made to encourage the Senate, specifically its Judiciary Committee, to eliminate some of the migration problems with the current law. For a detailed position of one of the groups calling for reform see this update.