A telephone rings at a feminist domestic violence shelter, and a worker picks up. First, the caller requests an Arabic-English translator to help her communicate, so the worker calls in a telephone translation service. The caller identifies herself as an immigrant who had come to the U.S. two years ago, who had never left her house by herself in these two years—until just now. Today she is calling from a local clinic, where she had sought emergency medical care for injuries arising from the battering by her husband the night before. She is afraid for her safety, but there is more than just the immediate safety that she is worried about: Where will she go? How will she take care of herself financially? Can she stay in this country, or can she even go back? The worker proceeds to screen her for services, but before the worker tells the woman that she is welcome to come over and stay at the shelter, her supervisor leaves a note on her desk saying “DON'T TAKE HER.” Puzzled, the worker puts the woman on hold and speaks to the supervisor. “We're seeing all those women of color come in, fail our program, and get kicked out,” says the supervisor, “we can't even get Spanish-speaking women to succeed in our program. I think it's a mistake to accept someone who only speaks Arabic.” Protest ensues, but in the end the worker tells the woman, who has been waiting on hold for several minutes, that she may not come to the shelter. No reasons were given; she is not just “appropriate” for the shelter.