Why Women are the Face of Immigration Reform

Women are the face of immigration reform.

Sure, most of the politicians on Capitol Hill may not be women ...nor the raging activists captured in photographs, but women, young and old women; documented and undocumented women; DREAMers and hopefuls are demanding reform as they march on the nation with their comadres.

The undocumented community's relationship with America's broken immigration system is an abusive and a tumultuous one, where confidence in a dream-like future is kicked down for a reality that is checkered with fear, anxiety and insecurity. Women carry a great deal of this burden due to their unique commitment to protecting their families. And they receive pushback due to backlogged visa requests, pending separations and barriers (health care, education, employment, language, etc.) that are so foreboding that it seems it can never be reconciled.

In response, women have been determined to lead when their sisters, brothers, husbands, children, mothers and fathers are taken to holding facilities before they're sent back to countries that they've scraped to escape. And thousands of children have been separated from parents, who reside in detainment and faced deportation.

The facts: immigrant women represent 51.4 percent of the immigrant population. And immigrant women have outnumbered men since the 1970s. Stats from the 2010 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics indicate that women make up 55 percent of all immigrants. There were 96 immigrant men to every 100 women immigrant women in 2010.

Women are the drivers of naturalization in their families, according to the Center for American Progress. And 58 percent of women immigrants surveyed said they felt the strongest in their households about becoming U.S. citizens. Overall, 84 percent of immigrant women surveyed expressed interest in becoming a citizen. When it came to women from Latin American and Arab nations, 90 percent of women expressed a desire to naturalize.

That says a great deal considering only 13 percent of immigrant women work as professionals in the U.S., despite 32 percent previously working in professional setting in their home nations. After arriving to the U.S. to excel, they're immediately demoted. But, women become maids, cleaners, seamstresses and nannies because that's the only work they can find after surviving the long and chilling journey to America. This is indicative of a need for these women to start over, that they'd forgo their chosen profession for low-wage labor. That said, many immigrant women find their bearings. Immigrant women represent 40 percent of all immigrant-owner business, and they represent 20 percent of all women-owned business.

But, immigrant women are vulnerable to professional and private abuse. Because of their status, these women are less likely to report work abuse or maltreatment. And they're not likely to communicate physical or verbal abuse to authorities when they're suffering domestic abuse. Undocumented status can trap a woman into an unhealthy marriage or relationship.

We Belong Together, an initiative formed by the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, is an example of women on the forefront of the movement. These women gathered together in the name of immigrant rights and women empowerment, and they've marched across the nation to promote equal access and safety. Moreover, they've worked to keep immigrant families together. That's their top goal: protect their families against separation and violence, and highlight the contributions of female immigrant workers.