Stalking, Mental Abuse, and Parental Alienation Are Forms of Domestic Violence — And Immigrants Do Not Have to Endure Them

Stalking, mental abuse, and parental alienation are forms of violence. They are real, destructive, and legally recognized harms that no woman or man—especially a non-citizen whose immigration status depends on a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse—should ever feel obligated to tolerate. Domestic violence does not have to involve bruises, broken bones, or police reports to be real. For immigrant women, abuse is often quieter, more insidious, and deeply tied to immigration status. It can occur behind closed doors, through constant surveillance, psychological domination, and the systematic destruction of a woman’s relationship with her children. U.S. immigration law recognizes these realities and provides protections for survivors—but only if women understand that what they are experiencing counts as abuse and that documentation matters.