The W Visa: A Legislative Proposal for Female and Child Refugees Trapped in a Post-September 11 World

Abstract

This Article proposes a vehicle, in the form of a new non-immigrant visa, for expeditiously resettling those refugees who are most at risk of harm and least threatening to U.S. national security: abandoned or abused female and child refugees whose sex or ages make them particularly vulnerable. This Article will refer to the visa as a "W visa."' The W visa would be available to eligible refugees who have not yet resettled in the United States due to post- September 11 security measures as well as to eligible refugees who, like Sahra Dirie, are denied resettlement on certain non-security related grounds. In this Article, I focus on women and children, rather than other at-risk refugee populations, because of their unique situation.