Inviolate Initiative

Inviolate Initiative increases the accessibility of mental health assessments in the immigration cases of survivors of domestic abuse and trafficking. Inviolate strengthens survivors’ access to legal victory and mental health as they seek lawful U.S. immigration status. Our mission is to connect undocumented survivors to all of their own power, agency, and possibility as they heal from the cruelty they have suffered, and as they move beyond to continue building their own lives, on their own terms.

Inviolate is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action (CTA), an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is legally and financially responsible for all our activities.

The Problem

Undocumented survivors are among the most under-served, otherized people in the world, standing at the harrowing intersection of disenfranchisement based on socioeconomics, race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation, and gender status. Mental health care is a significant need for this population, with many traumatized by abuse. However, psychological studies show that mental health is historically not a “community priority” for this group, and foundation and grant funding for this need has been decreasing. Barriers to mental health care for this population also include individual survivors’ lack of financial resources.

Mental health assessments carry an importance beyond psychological wellness. The assessments can culminate in thorough psychological evaluation reports, which serve as evidence in survivors’ immigration cases. Through Inviolate Initiative, comprehensive mental health assessments are provided so that undocumented survivors can protect their own due process rights, present their immigration cases fully, and begin to heal and thrive.

Our Approach

By expanding access to psychological evaluations in the context of the immigration cases of undocumented survivors of domestic abuse and trafficking, Inviolate Initiative recognizes that assessing and documenting mental traumas and conditions is essential to due process and mental health. Inviolate partners with nonprofit immigration organizations that are providing legal services to applicants for immigration relief, supplementing their services with Inviolate’s mental health assessments and evidentiary reports.

Our Team

Monica Esmeralda Ahmad-Yee, Esq., Founder and Co-Director

Veronica Morales Mendez, Co-Director

Advisory Board

• Kathy Elisca Clermont
• Nathilee Caldeira, Ph.D.
• Tara Mooney, Esq
• Suryia Rahman, Esq.

• Dalissy J. Washington, LCSW

Contact information

Monica Esmeralda Ahmad-Yee, Esq
monica@inviolateinitiative.org