Laura Luis Hernandez v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

OPINION

While living in Mexico, Laura Luis Hernandez (“Hernandez”) experienced life-threatening violence at the hands of her husband, a legal permanent resident of the United States. She fled to the United States, but her husband tracked her down, promised not to hurt her again, and begged her to return to Mexico with him. After Hernandez submitted to his demand and returned to Mexico, the physical abuse began again.

Having escaped her husband permanently, and now living without legal status in the United States, Hernandez applied for suspension of deportation under a provision of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (“VAWA”) intended to protect immigrants who have suffered domestic violence. 1 With the passage of VAWA, Congress provided a mechanism for women who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty to achieve lawful immigration status independent of an abusive spouse. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed the immi *828 gration judge’s (“IJ’s”) denial of Hernandez’s application because it determined that Hernandez had not “been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States,” as the statute then required. Hernandez also applied for adjustment of status on the basis of a petition for permanent residency that her husband had filed for her while they were still together. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s denial of this application as well, first stating that she failed to adequately show that she had an approved visa petition or that an immigrant visa was immediately available to her, and secondly affirming the IJ’s “discretionary determination to deny the respondent’s application for adjustment of status for the reason that the marriage is no longer in existence.” We reverse the BIA’s denial of both the suspension of deportation and adjustment of status.

As a preliminary matter, we hold that we have jurisdiction to consider the BIA’s determination that Hernandez was not subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States. We next turn to the merits of Hernandez’s claim of eligibility for suspension of deportation. We interpret the phrase “extreme cruelty” as a matter of first impression. In so doing, we give deference to a regulation promulgated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”), 2 and conduct our inquiry in a manner mindful of Congress’s intent that domestic violence be evaluated in the context of professional and clinical understandings of violence within intimate relationships. Although Hernandez was not battered in the United States, the interaction that took place in the United States presents a well-recognized stage within the cycle of violence, one which is both psychologically and practically crucial to maintaining the batterer’s control. We conclude that an abuser’s behavior during the “contrite” phase of domestic violence may, and in circumstances such as those present here does, constitute “extreme cruelty.” Thus, we conclude that Hernandez suffered extreme cruelty in the United States, and we determine that the BIA erred by denying her application for suspension of deportation under YAWA.

We also hold that the BIA erred in denying Hernandez’s petition for adjustment of status. Although the INS cites a regulation that appears to require that Hernandez show that a visa number has been allocated to her, the visa scheme and other regulations establish that Hernandez must only show that a visa number was immediately available to her at the time she filed her application. By demonstrating that she was assigned a priority date that was current at the time of filing, Hernandez met this burden. Moreover, because a priority date is not assigned until a petition is approved, the possession of a priority date, as well as other indicia, establishes that Hernandez had an approved petition.

Additionally, we conclude that we have jurisdiction to consider the BIA’s determination that the nonviability of Hernandez’s marriage constituted a proper discretionary ground for denial of her application for *829 adjustment of status. Although the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-546 (1996), removes our jurisdiction over discretionary decisions regarding adjustment of status, the BIA has no discretion to act in a manner contrary to law. Because the BIA’s own precedent states that nonviability of a marriage is an improper basis for denial of an adjustment of status application, we retain jurisdiction over this determination.

As this conclusion presages, we hold that the BIA erred in concluding that the nonviability of Hernandez’s marriage was a proper basis for denying her application for adjustment of status. In expressly overriding the viability test, the BIA itself had previously proclaimed that “the denial of an adjustment of status application ... cannot be based solely on the nonviability of the marriage at the time of the adjustment application.” Thus, the BIA acted in a manner contrary to law in denying Hernandez’s application for adjustment of status because of the nonviability of her marriage.

Accordingly, we grant the petition for review and remand for further proceedings.

I.

Background

Hernandez was thirty years old when she met her future husband, Refugio Acosta Gonzalez (“Refugio”), early in 1990. 3 Refugio frequently ate at a restaurant where Hernandez worked in Mexicali, and after a short while they began dating. Initially, the relationship seemed idyllic. Hernandez believed that Refugio “was a marvelous person, a good person .... he used to give me flowers .... everything was marvelous.” After dating for a few months, the two decided to move in together. Several months later, “we were already in love and he asked me to get married.” They were married in October 1990, in a small civil ceremony with a few friends present. After the wedding, they continued living in the same apartment in Mexicali.

Following the marriage, however, Refugio’s behavior changed drastically. He began drinking heavily and verbally abusing Hernandez, and ultimately began physically abusing her as well. Although the verbal and physical abuse appear to have been constant throughout the marriage, Hernandez described several specific instances of particularly serious physical assault.

On the first occasion, a few months after their marriage, Refugio and Hernandez had gone to the movies. They became separated, and Hernandez was unable to find Refugio. After searching for him without success, she returned home and went to sleep. She was awakened some time later by the shattering of the bedroom window above her head. Refugio entered the darkened room through the broken window, landing on Hernandez. Seeing her, Refugio lifted her by her hair and threw her forcefully against the wall. Hernandez lay where she fell, stunned. Refugio stumbled drunkenly into the kitchen, seized a chair, and broke it across Hernandez’s back. He continued hitting and kicking her while uttering insults and other verbal abuse.

Hernandez’s head was wounded by the assault, and it was noted during the hearing that she still bears a visible sear from *830 the injury. However, Refugio refused to allow her to leave the house or seek medical treatment. While testifying about this assault Hernandez became upset and began crying. She stated:

I merely cleaned my head and for two days he wouldn’t let me go out. He didn’t let me go to the hospital to get treatment. I was bleeding alone. He was afraid that I will denounce him to the police, that’s why he wouldn’t let me go out.

Following this incident Refugio became “the same man that I knew. He was very good and he will behave very well.”

In December of 1992 another violent assault occurred. Intoxicated, Refugio broke through the mosquito netting of the kitchen window while Hernandez was sleeping, and again attacked her. He smashed a pedestal fan over her head, breaking it on her forehead.

Hernandez was convinced that Refugio intended to kill her. She was afraid to return to her family in Mexico, because Refugio knew where they lived, and she feared he would follow her and kill her. With the help of a neighbor, Hernandez fled to the United States, to the home of her sister who lived in Los Angeles. However, after two weeks Refugio convinced the neighbor to give him the telephone number of Hernandez’s sister. Refugio began calling every day. Ultimately, Hernandez agreed to talk to him. Refugio told Hernandez that he needed her. Hernandez testified, “He was crying. He asked me forgiveness and he said that he wouldn’t do it again. And he asked why I had come here.... [I responded,] if I hadn’t gone, fled, he would have killed me.”

Refugio came to Los Angeles. He told Hernandez that “if I would go back with him he would look for a marriage counsel- or so that we could save our marriage, because he didn’t want to lose me and I also didn’t want to leave him.” Hernandez believed him, particularly because he had never previously raised the possibility of seeking professional help. Still loving him, and believing his remorse and his promises to change, she returned to Mexico with him.

Upon their return, Hernandez found a marriage counselor. However, despite his earlier promise, Refugio refused to see the counselor. After a brief period, Refugio’s violence returned.

The violence culminated several months later when Refugio came home drunk one evening. He beat Hernandez savagely, broke the windows in the house, and destroyed all of the furniture. After the beating, Hernandez “stayed in the corner sitting there in the corner, because I was very hurt.” The next morning, Hernandez arose and began cooking breakfast. 4 Behaving as though nothing had occurred, Refugio got up and began helping her. Then, suddenly, Refugio lunged at her with the knife he was using to chop vegetables. Sensing the attack, Hernandez blocked the knife thrust with her arm as Refugio attempted to stab her in the back. The knife gouged Hernandez’s hand, slicing through to the bone.

Despite the severity of the wound, Hernandez was unable to go to the hospital to treat the injury. Instead, Refugio kept her trapped inside the house for two days. During these two days, Refugio stayed home with her, no longer beating her. On the third day Refugio returned to work, but he placed a padlock on the front door in order to keep Hernandez locked in the house while he was gone. However, Hernandez had an extra key to the padlock, *831 and she was able to attract the attention of a passing neighbor. She slid the key under the door, and the neighbor unlocked the padlock and released her.

Hernandez went straight to the hospital to get treatment for her hand, but the delay in treatment had resulted in permanent damage to the nerves. The hand continues to give Hernandez great pain, and her use of it is restricted. At the hearing, Hernandez showed the IJ a scar approximately an inch and a half long on her right hand between her index finger and thumb.

In fear for her life, Hernandez again fled to the United States. She did not return to her sister’s house, because Refugio knew its location. She explained, “I didn’t go there anymore, because he has the address of my sister. He knew where I lived and I didn’t want him to — and I didn’t want him to find me again. I was very afraid. In fact, I am very afraid that he will find me again and he will kill me.” She stayed with a friend in the town of Huron, California, for a few months, and then moved to Salinas.

A year later, in Salinas, she met Paulino Garcia, now her domestic partner, who “has helped me economically and morally with all the problems that I have suffered from my — from the abuse of my — the constant abuse that I suffer from my husband.” In 1995, she and Paulino attempted to go to Alaska to work on a fishing boat, but Hernandez was intercepted by the INS at the airport and deportation proceedings were initiated against her.

Hernandez is still married to Refugio, but she has not had any contact with him and does not want him to find her. She believes that if she were required to return to Mexico, Refugio would find her and kill her.

Hernandez testified regarding the circumstances surrounding the 1-130 petition for residency that Refugio had filed for her. Refugio was a legal permanent resident of the United States, and a year after their marriage he petitioned for her to become a permanent resident as well. On August 11, 1992, she received a letter indicating that she had a priority date for her visa. After leaving Refugio, she was unaware of any further communication by the INS.

Procedural Background

Hernandez was served with an Order to Show Cause on June 8, 1995. She appeared before an IJ, represented by an attorney from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and conceded deportability. Her attorney informed the court that she wished to seek two forms of relief: suspension of deportation under YAWA, and adjustment of status based upon an I-130 petition filed by her husband.

Following a hearing, the IJ issued a written opinion, finding Hernandez’s testimony to lack credibility due to inconsistencies and the absence of corroborating testimony. The IJ denied her application for suspension of deportation because she had failed to prove she was a victim of domestic violence, and denied her application for adjustment of status because there was no evidence showing that the 1-130 application had been approved.

On appeal, the BIA reversed the negative credibility determination, which it determined was unfounded. Nonetheless, the BIA affirmed the IJ’s denial of both suspension of deportation and adjustment of status. With regard to the application for suspension of deportation under VAWA, the BIA determined that Hernandez met the three-year continuous physical presence requirement and the good moral character requirement. However, the BIA concluded that because the acts of physical *832 violence occurred in Mexico, Hernandez was unable to show that she was “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States,” as required by the 1994 version of the statute. Due to this conclusion, the BIA did not consider whether Hernandez had demonstrated extreme hardship.

The BIA provided two grounds for denying the application for adjustment of status. First, the BIA found that Hernandez had not established that a visa was immediately available to her or that her visa petition had been approved. Secondly, the BIA stated that the deterioration of the marriage provided an independent, discretionary basis for denying the adjustment of status. The BIA did, however, grant Hernandez’s request for voluntary departure.

Hernandez filed a timely petition for review.

II.

Standard of Review

Where as here, the BIA has conducted a de novo review of the IJ’s decision, we review only the decision of the BIA. Dillingham v. INS, 267 F.3d 996, 1004 (9th Cir.2001). The BIA’s resolution of questions of law are reviewed de novo, “except to the extent they involve interpretations of ambiguous statutory provisions intended by Congress to be left to the agency’s discretion.” Id. In such cases, we must affirm the agency’s interpretation so long as that interpretation involves a permissible construction of the statute. Chevron v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 843, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). The BIA’s determinations of fact, including determinations regarding eligibility for adjustment of status, are reviewed for substantial evidence. Lee v. INS, 541 F.2d 1383, 1385 (9th Cir.1976).

III.

Suspension of Deportation Under VAWA

Hernandez applied for suspension of deportation under section 244(a)(3) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a)(3) (1996) (now amended and recodified). The former section 244 of the INA provided a method for certain aliens to establish eligibility for a discretionary suspension of deportation and obtain a grant of lawful status. Section 244(a)(3) was added to the INA as part of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, in order to assist certain immigrants suffering from domestic violence. This provision provided that the Attorney General had the discretion to suspend deportation proceedings against an individual who:

1) has been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than 3 years immediately preceding the date of such application;

2) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent who is a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident;

3) proves that during all of such time in the United States the alien was and is a person of good moral character;

4) and is a person whose deportation would, in the opinion of the Attorney General, result in extreme hardship to the alien or the alien’s parent or child.

Id. Hernandez bears the burden of establishing each of these four factors in order to qualify for suspension of deportation under section 244(a)(3). The BIA concluded that Hernandez had established both continuous physical presence and good moral character, the first and third prongs. Hernandez asks us to reverse the BIA’s *833 determination that she did not “suffer[ ] extreme cruelty in the United States.”

A. Jurisdiction

The INS raises an initial challenge to our jurisdiction to review the BIA’s determination that Hernandez did not suffer extreme cruelty in the United States. 5 Certain prongs of the determination regarding eligibility for suspension of deportation involve nondiscretionary determinations and others involve discretionary determinations. Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1150-52 (9th Cir.1997). As explained in more detail below, our jurisdiction turns upon whether the determination that an applicant was not subjected to extreme cruelty is deemed to be discretionary or nondiscretionary.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”) “dramatically altered this court’s jurisdiction to review final deportation and exclusion orders.” Kalaw, 133 F.3d at 1149. Under IIRIRA’s transitional rules, 6 “there shall be no appeal of any discretionary decision under section ... 244 ... of the Immigration and Nationality Act.” IIRIRA § 309(c)(4)(E), 8 U.S.C. § 1101, Note; see also Larita-Martinez v. INS, 220 F.3d 1092, 1095 (9th Cir.2000).

Although there is no jurisdiction to review the exercise of discretion under section 244, “[a]s to those elements of statutory eligibility which do not involve the exercise of discretion, direct judicial review remains.” Kalaw, 133 F.3d at 1150. “Exactly what constitutes a discretionary decision is not defined in the IIRIRA or the INA.” Id. However, in Kalaw we “walked through the statutory requirements for suspension of deportation [under INA § 244(a)(1)], sorting discretionary from nondiscretionary aspects.” Romero-Torres v. Ashcroft, 327 F.3d 887, 890 (9th Cir.2003). We concluded that determinations regarding both continuous physical presence and whether a petitioner falls into a per se category of bad moral character are nondiscretionary inquiries. Kalaw, 133 F.3d at 1151. As a result, we retain jurisdiction to consider the propriety of the BIA’s action with regard to either of these questions. In contrast, we determined that aside from the per se categories, the general inquiry regarding whether an alien has good moral character is a discretionary one. Id.; but see Ikenokwalu-White v. INS, 316 F.3d 798, 802-03 (8th Cir.2003) (noting that Kalaw statement was dicta, and concluding that moral character determination is nondiscretionary and reviewable). We also concluded that “extreme hardship” was a discretionary, nonreviewable determination. Kalaw, 133 F.3d at 1152.

No court has yet considered whether the inquiry into whether a VAWA petitioner suffered “extreme cruelty” is discretionary or nondiscretionary. The INS urges us to conclude that “extreme cruelty” is a determination similar to “extreme hardship,” and therefore of necessity discretionary. Looking beyond the linguistic parallel between the phrases, and evaluating instead the actual nature of each factor, we reject this interpretation.

In assessing whether a particular element is discretionary or nondiscretionary, we consider a number of factors. We have noted that determinations that “require[ ] *834 application of law to factual determinations” are nondiscretionary. Id. at 1150. We concluded, for example, that continuous physical presence fell into this category, because it “must be determined from the facts, not through an exercise of discretion.” Id. at 1151; see also Montero-Martinez v. Ashcroft, 277 F.3d 1137, 1141 (9th Cir.2002) (holding that the element of the “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” determination that involves the factual determination of whether an adult daughter is a child is nondiscretionary because it only “require[s] us to review the BIA’s construction of the INA, which is a pure question of law. This question would not require us to review a discretionary determination by the BIA”).

Similarly, extreme cruelty involves a question of fact, determined through the application of legal standards. 7 Section 244(a)(3) introduces battery and extreme cruelty as parallel methods by which an individual may establish that she has experienced domestic violence. See INA § 244(a)(3) (requiring that applicant “has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty”). The existence or nonexistence of battery is clearly a factual determination, readily resolved by the application of a legal standard defining battery to the facts in question. Extreme cruelty provides an inquiry into an individual’s experience of mental or psychological cruelty, an alternative measure of domestic violence that can also be assessed on the basis of objective standards. Ultimately, the question of whether an individual has experienced domestic violence in either its physical or psychological manifestation is a clinical one, akin to the issue of whether an alien is a “habitual drunkard,” which Kalaw established was clearly nondiscretionary. 133 F.3d at 1151.

The text of the statute, which in some provisions “itself commits the determination to ‘the opinion of the Attorney General,’ ” also supports our conclusion that extreme cruelty is a nondiscretionary decision. Id. at 1152. Unlike the inquiry into “extreme hardship,” which is specifically committed to “the opinion of the Attorney General,” 8 nothing in the text of the statute indicates that the phrase at issue is discretionary. It is a basic principle of statutory construction that “where Congress includes particular language in one section of the statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, ... Congress acts intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion.” Andrew v. Ashcroft, 253 F.3d 477, 480 (9th Cir.2001) (en banc) (quoting INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 432, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987) (alteration omitted)). We disregarded this fundamental rule of statutory interpretation in construing the “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” determination in Romero-Torres, because despite the absence of statutory text regarding discretion, “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” was intended as a more demanding version *835 of the “extreme hardship” determination, which our previous decisions had recognized as quintessentially discretionary. 327 F.3d at 891. No such unusual circumstance applies here.

In Romero-Torres, we emphasized the “essential, discretionary nature of the hardship decision.” Id. However, it is not the adjective “extreme” that establishes hardship as discretionary. This adjective serves only to limit and emphasize the basic requirement under consideration. Rather, it is the basic nature and purpose of hardship, unmodified, which is discretionary, see id.; discretionary determinations such as hardship and good moral character guide the INS in its limitation of a scarce and coveted status to those applicants deemed particularly worthy. In contrast, extreme cruelty simply provides a way to evaluate whether an individual has suffered psychological abuse that constitutes domestic violence. Like duration of physical presence, status as a survivor of domestic violence functions as a basic threshold inquiry into whether an individual possesses the minimum attributes necessary to qualify for certain types of relief. Thus, the basic nature and purpose of extreme cruelty reveal it at core to be nondiscretionary.

The wisdom of treating the determination of whether an applicant has suffered extreme cruelty as nondiscretionary is further illuminated through consideration of congressional intent. Bedroc Ltd. v. United States, 314 F.3d 1080, 1083 (9th Cir.2002). In light of Congress’s desire to remedy the past insensitivity of the INS and other governmental entities to the dangers and dynamics of domestic violence, it appears quite unlikely that Congress would have intended to commit the determination of what constitutes domestic violence to the sole discretion of immigration judges. See H.R. Rep. No. 103-395, at 25-27, 37-38 (1993); see also Fornalik v. Perryman, 223 F.3d 523, 533 (7th Cir.2000) (questioning, without resolving, whether IIRIRA eliminated jurisdiction under circumstances of case, and noting particularly, “[w]e are skeptical that Congress, in attempting to ‘pursu[e] justice for the thousands of Poles who were victims of this bureaucratic bungle,’ meant to leave all oversight of this provision in the hands of the very same bungling bureaucrats” (citation omitted)); Leslye E. Orloff & Janice V. Kaguyutan, Offering a Helping Hand: Legal Protections for Battered Immigrant Women: A History of Legislative Responses, 10 Am. U.J. Gender Soc. Pol’y & L. 95 (2001).

In sum, a variety of factors supports our determination that the question of whether an individual has suffered extreme cruelty is a nondiscretionary one. As a result, we conclude that we have jurisdiction to review the BIA’s consideration of this issue.

B. Extreme Cruelty

There is no dispute that the egregious abuse that Hernandez suffered in Mexico would qualify as battery or extreme cruelty. However, it is also clear that none of the acts of battery that occurred took place in the United States. Although Congress has since removed the requirement that an alien must have suffered from domestic abuse within the United States, 9 Hernandez’s case is subject to an older version of VAWA, which did include this requirement. 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a)(3) (1996). Thus, the question *836 presented is whether the actions taken by Refugio in seeking to convince Hernandez to leave her safe haven in the United States in which she had taken refuge can be deemed to constitute extreme cruelty. 10

1) Refugio’s Behavior in the Context of Domestic Violence

Hernandez and amici 11 argue that the interaction between Hernandez and Refugio in Los Angeles made up an integral stage in the cycle of domestic violence, and thus the actions taken by Refugio in order to lure Hernandez back to the violent relationship constitute extreme cruelty. Although according to common understanding, Refugio’s actions might not be perceived as cruel, in enacting VAWA, Congress recognized that lay understandings of domestic violence are frequently comprised of “myths, misconceptions, and victim blaming attitudes,” and that background information regarding domestic violence may be crucial in order to understand its essential characteristics and manifestations. H.R. Rep. No. 103-395, at 24. Thus, in order to evaluate Hernandez’s argument, we must first consider the nature and effects of violence in intimate relationships.

The field of domestic violence and our own case law reflect the fact that Refugio’s actions represent a specific phase that commonly recurs in abusive relationships. Abuse within intimate relationships often follows a pattern known as the cycle of violence, “which consists of a tension building phase, followed by acute battering of the victim, and finally by a contrite phase where the batterer’s use of promises and gifts increases the battered woman’s hope that violence has occurred for the last time.” Mary Ann Dutton, Understanding Women’s Responses to Domestic Violence: A Redefinition of Battered Woman Syndrome, 21 Hofstra L. Rev. 1191, 1208 (1993); Evan Stark, Re-Presenting Women Battering: From Battered Woman Syndrome to Coercive Control, 58 Alb. L. Rev. 973, 985-86 (1995); see also Dillard v. Roe, 244 F.3d 758, 763-64 (9th Cir.2001) (describing domestic violence expert’s testimony that “[a]fter the violent episode, ... the man is scared that the woman will tell the police or decide to leave him. He tells the woman he loves her and minimizes the seriousness of his violent outburst....”). Indeed, Hernandez’s relationship with Refugio reflected just such a cycle: as described in Hernandez’s testimony, following each violent episode, Refugio would for a time again become the man she had loved.

The literature also emphasizes that, although a relationship may appear to be predominantly tranquil and punctuated *837 only infrequently by episodes of violence, “abusive behavior does not occur as a series of discrete events,” but rather pervades the entire relationship. Dutton, supra, at 1208. The effects of psychological abuse, coercive behavior, and the ensuing dynamics of power and control mean that “the pattern of violence and abuse can be viewed as a single and continuing entity.” Id.; see also Stark, supra, at 985-86. Thus, “the battered woman’s fear, vigilance, or perception that she has few options may persist, ... even when the abusive partner appears to be peaceful and calm.” Dutton, supra, at 1208-09. The psychological role of kindness is also significant in understanding the impact of Refugio’s actions on Hernandez, since in combination with the batterer’s physical dominance, such kindness often creates an intense emotional dependence by the battered woman on the batterer. Id. at 1206, 1225. Significantly, research also shows that women are often at the highest risk of severe abuse or death when they attempt to leave their abusers. Id. at 1212; see also H.R. Rep. 103-395, at 24.

Although the INS implies otherwise, the record before the IJ and BIA contained substantial evidence regarding the cycle of violence and clinical and psychological understandings of domestic violence, evidence that was entirely unrebutted. For example, Leslye Orloff s Manual on Intra-family Cases for the D.C. Superior Court Judges (1993) explained:

Either immediately following the battering incident or shortly thereafter, the batterer will become contrite, apologetic and will beg the battered woman for forgiveness. He tells her that the violence will never happen again and promises to reform. During this phase, batterers will court their spouse and become again the man that she fell in love with. Many batterers honestly believe that they will reform their behavior. Battered women want to believe them.... [Batterers] will be apologetic or very convincing that the violence will cease. However, without outside intervention in most cases the cycle will gradually repeat itselfi,] moving from this hearts and flowers phase back into the tension building phase.

Id. at 15. Information in the record also explained that “[d]omestic violence is not an isolated, individual event, but rather a pattern of perpetrator behaviors used against the victim.” Anne L. Ganley, Understanding Domestic Violence, in IMPROVING the Health Caee Response to Domestic Violence 18 (Carole Warshaw & Anne L. Ganley eds., 1996). Explaining the connection between violence and other tactics of control, this work stated:

Sometimes physical abuse, threats of harm, and isolation tactics are interwoven with seemingly loving gestures (e.g., expensive gifts, intense displays of devotion, sending flowers after an assault, making romantic promises, tearfully promising it will never happen again). Amnesty International (1973) describes such “occasional indulgences” as a method of coercion used in torture. With such tactics, the perpetrator provides positive motivation for victim compliance .... The message is always there that if the victim does not respond to this “loving” gesture or verbal abuse, then the perpetrator will escalate and use whichever tactic, including force, is necessary to get what he wants.

Id. at 22; see also id. at 33 (“Perpetrators do not just let victims leave relationships. They will use violence and all other tactics of control to maintain the relationship.”). This excerpt also discussed how a battered woman’s responses to the batterer may reflect her experience of violent retribution:

*838 Victims use many different strategies to cope with and resist the abuse. Such strategies include ... accepting the perpetrator’s promises that it will never happen again, saying that she “still loves him,” being unwilling to leave the perpetrator or terminate the relationship, and doing what he asks. These strategies may appear to be the result of passiveness or submission on the part of the victim, when in reality she has learned that these are sometimes successful approaches for temporarily avoiding or stopping the violence.

Id. at 34. The INS presented no evidence contradicting or undermining any of Hernandez’s evidence.

Understood in light of the familiar dynamics of violent relationships, Refugio’s seemingly reasonable actions take on a sinister east. Following Refugio’s brutal and potentially deadly beating, Hernandez fled her job, home, country, and family. Hernandez believed that if she had not fled, Refugio would have killed her. Unwilling to lose control over Hernandez, Refugio stalked her, convincing the very neighbor who helped Hernandez to escape to give him her phone number and calling her sister repeatedly until Hernandez finally agreed to speak with him. Once Refugio was able to speak with Hernandez, he emanated remorse, crying and telling Hernandez that he needed her. Refugio promised not to hurt Hernandez again, and told her that if she would go back to him he would seek counseling. Wounded both emotionally and physically by someone she trusted and loved, Hernandez was vulnerable to such promises. Moreover, Hernandez was well aware of Refugio’s potential for violence. Behind Refugio’s show of remorse, there also existed the lurking possibility that if Hernandez adamantly refused, Refugio might resort to the extreme violence or murder that commonly results when a woman attempts to flee her batterer. Refugio successfully manipulated Hernandez into leaving the safety that she had found and returning to a deadly relationship in which her physical and mental well-being were in danger.

2) Statutory Analysis of “Extreme Cruelty”

No court has yet interpreted the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a)(3)’s reference to extreme cruelty. “We interpret a federal statute by ascertaining the intent of Congress and by giving effect to its legislative will.” Bedroc, 314 F.3d at 1083 (quoting Ariz. Appetito’s Stores, Inc. v. Paradise Vill., 893 F.2d 216, 219 (9th Cir.1990)). The text of the statute reveals that Congress distinguished between “battery” and “extreme cruelty,” reserving the term extreme cruelty for something other than physical assault, presumably actions in some way involving mental or psychological cruelty. A contrary interpretation would render section 244’s reference to “extreme cruelty” redundant, violating elementary principles of statutory construction. See, e.g., id. at 1088 (“[I]t is a cardinal principle of statutory construction that a statute ought, upon the whole, to be so construed that, if it can be prevented, no clause, sentence, or word shall be superfluous, void, or insignificant.” (internal quotation marks omitted)).

However, because the text of the statute provides no further elucidation regarding Congress’s intent, we must “look to the congressional intent revealed in the history and purposes of the statutory scheme.” Id. (quoting United States v. Buckland, 289 F.3d 558, 565 (9th Cir.2002) (en banc)). The legislative history reflects Congress’s conviction that “[c]urrent [immigration] law fosters domestic violence,” H.R. Rep. No. 103-395, at 26, and its intent that VAWA be so interpreted as to remedy the widespread gender bias and ignorance that *839 have resulted in governmental harm, rather than help, for survivors of domestic violence, see H.R. Rep. No. 103-395. However, the legislative history does not contain any explicit consideration of the phrase in question, and thus is of limited aid in interpreting Congress’s intent with regard to the breadth of extreme cruelty.

When traditional tools of statutory interpretation are unable to unearth Congress’s intent with regard to the precise question at issue, “the courts must respect the interpretation of the agency to which Congres