Tahirih Advocates Against “Chilling Effect” of Local Police Enforcing Immigration Laws
Batterers who abuse their immigrant wives often deliberately withhold required filings to confer legal status on them. A batterer can thereby exploit his control over his wife not only in that moment, but also in countless later moments in which he can hold the fact that she is “illegal” over her head to exact her silence and compliance. Traffickers employ similar tactics, forcing or duping victims into using false immigration documents to make good on their threats that if the victim comes forward, it is she—not the trafficker—who will be punished. Perpetrators of many other crimes against immigrant victims are likewise opportunistic predators who count on victims’ fear of the authorities to avoid prosecution.
Many of the immigrant crime survivors that Tahirih serves, in fact, are women and girls who do not have legal status when they first turn to us for help, but all are eligible for legal status under federal laws—the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)—that recognize these exploitative dynamics. These federal protections, painstakingly elaborated over 15 years, are intended to encourage immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and certain other violent crimes who do not have legal status, or who depend on the perpetrator of the crimes against them for their legal status, to escape violence, seek help, report crimes, and cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of crimes without fearing that they will be automatically deported.
Yet, a rash of proposals introduced in recent years at the state and local levels in Virginia to step up immigration enforcement activities threatened to undermine these prudent, safety-centered federal protections and to cause the attention of local authorities to revert from a victim’s safety, to her status. Tahirih has spearheaded the efforts of the survivor advocacy community to defeat such measures.
Where defeat was not possible, Tahirih has also tried to minimize the terrible “chilling effect” that such measures have on immigrant victims, who invariably fear that seeking help from the authorities may then lead to their deportation. For example, at Tahirih’s urging, when the Town of Herndon entered into an agreement with federal immigration authorities to deputize certain of its police officers with immigration enforcement powers, the Town Board agreed to include in its public information materials an “FAQ” addressing concerns of immigrant victims. Tahirih has also testified at hearings before the Board of Supervisors in both Prince William and Loudoun Counties. As a founding member of VA-SCOPE (the VA Alliance for Sensible Community Policing Efforts), Tahirih also helped convene two state-wide summits in Summer 2007 that brought together a broad spectrum of interested advocates to build consensus and develop strategy around responding to these developing state and local threats.
In addition, Tahirih has engaged in extensive education and outreach to the public and policymakers, through candidate questionnaires, media interviews, published articles, and presentations at statewide domestic violence conferences. Tahirih has also given testimony at the invitation of the VA State Crime Commission’s Illegal Immigration Task Force on Tahirih’s work with immigrant crime survivors, the dynamics that render them particularly vulnerable to abuse, and federal protections available to them. Tahirih also testified at public hearings held by the Governor’s Commission on Immigration. Finally, together with the VA Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, VA-SCOPE, and legislative champions, Tahirih drafted and mobilized support for a statewide, uniform law that would prohibit state or local law enforcement from asking victims and witnesses to crimes about their immigration status. This bill nearly passed the Virginia General Assembly in 2008.
Tahirih is redoubling our coalition’s efforts and expanding our outreach to critical allies, to ensure passage of this vitally important statewide law in 2009. Immigrant crime victims like Tahirih’s clients need, and deserve, an unequivocal message that their lives are valued more than their status in this Commonwealth.
