Obtaining permanent residency in US

I'm asking for any information in trying to help a friend who is from DR. She entered the US after getting married in DR to an American and has been living here 10 years. She told me that the Consul told her she could not come to the US (10 years ago) to meet "his" family. So, they got married so that she could travel to the US. At first I could not believe this was true. I thought perhaps that her husband had just said this to her so that she would marry him. But after visiting this internet site and reading the dicussions concerning this subject, I see now this was true. My friend's husband is now divorcing her. They have two young children. She has not become a US citizen. He is trying to get complete custody of the children. I think she has a "Resident Alien" card. Is she in any jeapordy of having to leave this country? What does she need to do to protect her ability to stay in this country? Can anyone be of help?

You must understand her husband has been very controlling. Even recently he threw her mail on the floor when she came by to get the children and when she expressed her anger about it, he threatened to call the police. She is afraid of him I think, and probably afraid of having the police called as it may hurt her in the divorce/custody. I'm going to go with her this next week to speak to her lawyer -- a bilingual advocate will be present as well. Her husband filed for a divorce in 2003 and is trying to disprove her credibility. In plain English he is a jerk. They only had one car, which he had use of. She did not have the money to pursue getting citizenship. She also told me that she had to have had to pay taxes for 3 years in order to apply. I am going to try to investigate and see what is entailed. Her English is not very good as well. She has some family (mother and sisters) now living in New York. I'm trying to get her in an "English as a second language course" through a Hispanic church here in Memphis, TN. I also told her I would help her to learn everything she must know in order to become a citizen. She just doesn't understand what her rights are and he is a very manipulative person.
Thank you for your response.