Browse our publications to learn more about how we support immigrant survivors of gender-based violence through service in communities, courts, and Congress.
Washington, D.C. (July 18, 2025) – Today, the Justice Department issued a precedential decision that attempts to turn back the clock on progress made in recognizing women’s rights as human rights. In Matter of K-E-S-G-, the Board of Immigration Appeals ignores and distorts decades of precedent to declare that women and girls fleeing human rights violations and seeking safety in the United States may no longer qualify for asylum.
“Today’s decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals in Matter of K-E-S-G- goes against long-accepted precedent in cases involving women seeking protection from domestic and sexual violence,” said Kursten Phelps, litigation counsel at the Tahirih Justice Center. “The result could be traumatized women being forced to return to life-threatening situations. The Tahirih Justice Center will continue to fight for the rights of survivors like our client, Ms. S.G., to access legal protection and safety in this country.”
“Early marriage stunts children’s futures and growth for the rest of their lives. Every person in Missouri now has the right to decide, as adults, whether to marry, and to whom.”
JEFFERSON CITY – Incredibly, in 2025, child marriage is still legal in most of the United States. But now the practice is banned across Missouri — making the Show Me State a leader in protecting children from this insidious form of child abuse.
“The harms of early marriage stay with children for the rest of their lives. Bipartisan champions in the Missouri Legislature worked hard to end child marriage and protect all children in Missouri,” said Alex Goyette, Public Policy Manager at the Tahirih Justice Center. “Every person should have the right to decide — freely and for themselves, as adults — whether they want to get married, and to whom.”
The bill to end child marriage in Missouri, HB 737, was introduced by Rep. Melissa Schmidt (R). State Sen. Tracy McCreery (D), Sen. Rick Brattin (R) and Rep. Renee Reuter (R) all sponsored legislation to the same effect, working together to advance the legislation.
According to former State Senator Thompson Rehder, married children are 50% more likely to drop out of school; four times less likely to graduate from college; and 31% more likely to live a future life in poverty than their unmarried peers. They experience domestic violence at more than three times the national average. Eighty percent of their marriages end in divorce.
Child marriage was banned in the District of Columbia, Maine, and Oregon earlier this year. Passing legislation in four more jurisdictions makes 2025 the most successful year yet for the national campaign to end child marriage, launched by Tahirih’s campaign in Virginia in 2016. Check out this Tahirih Justice Center two-pager for an overview.
In a moving essay for the Kansas City Star, Thompson Rheder explained how she chose marriage at the age of 15 to escape an abusive home, and soon regretted it. She dropped out of school, became pregnant, and worked odd jobs to pay the rent. “At 15, when I made this life changing decision, I wasn’t Democrat or Republican,” she wrote. “I was a child, with a child’s brain and a mother who struggled with mental illness, looking for a way out. This bill isn’t about politics. It’s about protecting children.”
Until 2018, Missouri had one of the laxest marriage laws in the United States, allowing thousands of predators to use the cover of a legal marriage to mask their sexual, psychological, and physical coercion of minors. The legislature installed some safeguards, but it was not enough to fully protect children. With the enactment of HB 737, marriage under the age of 18 is forbidden in Missouri — no exceptions.
MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about the status of child marriage bans across the states in this Tahirih Justice Center backgrounder. Follow the national campaign to end child and forced marriage at https://preventforcedmarriage.org/.
HOUSTON – The Tahirih Justice Center has been serving immigrant survivors in Houston since 2009, and nationwide since 1997. Today, the level of fear among those we serve is at an all-time high. We are deeply alarmed by reports in the Houston Chronicle that the Houston Police Department contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after an immigrant survivor of domestic violence called 911 for help in an emergency. Our Houston Managing Attorney, Libby Hasse, recently spoke out about a similar situation involving one of her clients.
What survivors need in these moments is safety, care, and compassion. Instead, the worst nightmare of every immigrant survivor became a reality. The fact is, when local law enforcement cooperates with and engages in immigration enforcement, it means that immigrant survivors do not feel safe calling 911 in an emergency, reporting crime to the police, or going to court as a victim or witness of a crime.
The Alliance for Immigrant Survivors recently published the results of a survey that demonstrates the consequences of entanglement between federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement – Fear and Silence: 2025 Insights from Advocates for Immigrant Survivors. This report, based on responses from over 170 advocates and legal professionals across the country, revealed 76% of advocates have observed that immigrant survivors have concerns about contacting the police to report domestic violence and sexual assault and 70% reported that immigrant survivors have concerns about going to court for a matter related to their abuser.
Unfortunately, the situation in Texas will only become more challenging for immigrant survivors, as the Texas legislature recently passed a law that will newly require Texas sheriffs’ departments to enter into cooperative agreements with ICE for immigration enforcement. These kinds of agreements will further entangle local law enforcement in Texas with federal immigration enforcement, and that will result in even more fear and hesitation for immigrant survivors needing help in an emergency. When the agency responsible for protecting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other violent crimes is also taking on immigrant enforcement responsibilities that rest with DHS, immigrant survivors are forced to make impossible choices.
Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility; local law enforcement must focus on protecting survivors and ensuring community safety. When those roles blur, survivors stay silent and communities suffer. And when local law enforcement prioritizes enforcement of non-violent civil immigration violations over violent crime, that makes all of our communities less safe.
Tahirih will continue to work with our partners in Houston, including law enforcement, local government, and policymakers, to advocate for policies that prioritize safety and justice for all survivors. We look forward to a day when Houston and every city in the United States is a place where all survivors of domestic and sexual violence feel safe reaching out for help regardless of their immigration status. The safety of our communities depends on it.
Today, the Supreme Court permitted an executive order redefining birthright citizenship to go into effect for everyone except the specific plaintiffs in ongoing federal litigation. In so ruling, the court also ended the authority of lower courts to universally block potentially unconstitutional executive actions by forbidding them from issuing nationwide (“universal”) injunctions while cases are still under review.
The Tahirih Justice Center’s CEO Archi Pyati said: “The strength of our democracy rests on the people’s trust in our Constitution to provide checks on abuse of power. When the executive attempts to rewrite law by fiat, the courts must be able to pause those actions while they review legality and impact. The Supreme Court makes a dangerous gamble with its decision: the subject today is the ability of new Americans to be together with their families and safe from devastating harm. The subject tomorrow could be something even more dire.”
Attorneys and advocates for survivors of violence have noted a troubling trend in the first months of 2025: immigrant crime victims are even more afraid to seek help from the police and courts. That is the clear finding of a new survey by the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors (AIS), titled “Fear and Silence: 2025 Insights from Advocates for Immigrant Survivors.”
Said Adilene Nunez Huang, Director of Client Experience at Tahirih Justice Center, “While the survey results are deeply saddening, I am not surprised that a huge majority of immigrant survivors are hesitant to reach out to the police or go to court for protection. It reflects what our service providers at Tahirih encounter every day. Immigrant survivors are justifiably afraid of detention, deportation, and separation from their family and children in this environment, and it’s driving them to choose to stay in dangerous situations.”
The Alliance for Immigrant Survivors urges members of Congress to vote no on H.R. 30 (“Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act”) to protect survivors. H.R. 30 unnecessarily and imprudently increases the likelihood that victims will be deported by expanding the grounds of removability related to domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, and sexual assault, while failing to provide exceptions or waivers, thereby sweeping survivors into their scope and ignoring the best interests of survivors and their children. Instead of strengthening protections for survivors of violence, H.R. 30 contributes to the harmful demonization and divisive stereotyping of immigrant communities.
Read the full vote recommendation statement from the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors.
WASHINGTON – The Washington, DC City Council unanimously approved the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act on December 17, setting the minimum age of consent for marriage at 18. This is a resounding victory for survivors of child marriage and those at risk of this little-discussed form of child abuse. The bill now heads to Mayor Bowser for approval, and will then be considered by Congress.
Said Dr. Indira Henard, Executive Director of the DC Rape Crisis Center; “We are very excited that DC Council has passed the bill to end child marriage in the District. We commend Councilwoman Brooke Pinto for her leadership in bringing this bill to fruition. This is a great day for survivors. What we know for sure is that protecting children should be everyone’s business, and we are glad that this bill gives much needed protection to our children against child marriage in the District. We are grateful to all of the survivors who shared their stories, and partnered with us throughout this process.”
“The passage of this bill is a resounding symbol of the District’s commitment to putting survivors first. We at The Person Center are proud to stand alongside a community-based coalition rooted in the bravery and determination of our survivor advocates,” said Lul Mohamud, MPH, Executive Director of The Person Center. “Ending child marriage in Washington, DC is a result of the listening ear, compassion-based action, and coordinated efforts of Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s office and staff. The DC Council’s monumental vote will close a door to victimization, violence, and trauma — protecting our most vulnerable across the district and across the region. We at The Person Center look forward to continuing to champion the work of this coalition to expand protections, resources, and support for our youth in collaboration with our survivor advocates, community organizations, and the DC Council.”
A few steps remain before this bill becomes law. The legislation must be signed by Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, and sent to Congress. Congress has 30 days to object, approve the law proactively, or allow it to become law without taking further action.
Alex Goyette, Public Policy Manager at the Tahirih Justice Center, added “This is a resounding victory for children in the District and throughout the U.S., as DC Council joins the 13 state legislatures that have passed a ban on child marriage since 2016. This reform continues the mid-Atlantic’s leadership in the campaign to end child marriage across the US, and setting another example that the remaining 37 states should follow. We look forward to swift approval of this legislation from Mayor Bowser and Congress.”
All of Washington, DC’s neighbors have already taken action to limit or end child marriage, according to a Tahirih Justice Center report. DC City Councilmember Brooke Pinto (Ward 2), Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, introduced the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act in the fall of 2024 to right that wrong. Pinto invited public comment in what was a highly emotional, but empowering legislative hearing.
Vilas Wright testified that she was forced to marry a man twice her age after her father found out she had been raped. “No one asked me,” she said. “I was a naive and innocent little girl, even if I was a feisty redhead. No one stopped it. No one stood up and questioned if this was right or wrong. You have the power to do that today.” Read more testimonies here.
And the DC Council acted. Advocates expect the bill to become law by early 2025, ensuring that predators who wish to trap children in marriage, in order to “legitimize” abuse, can no longer do so under color of law in any jurisdiction across the mid-Atlantic.
Tahirih Justice Center and partners will continue to advocate for state restrictions on child and forced marriage across the United States, as well as enactment of the federal Child Marriage Prevention Act. This legislation, introduced by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), remains pending in the United States Congress.
Read testimonies in support of the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024, offered during the October 21 DC City Council hearing and in the Tahirih Justice Center column, “What survivors of child marriage want the DC Council, Congress, and the world, to know,” in English, and Spanish.
View the Tahirih Justice Center report, “Child Marriage in Washington, DC,” and two-page issue brief about the DC law.
Learn more about the federal Child Marriage Prevention Act, which encourages all states to raise age-of-marriage laws to 18; prohibits child marriages on federal lands and property; and strengthens U.S. immigration laws so that minors cannot be used by abusers — even under their parents’ direction or consent — as a passport to immigration in this Ms. Magazine op-ed by Casey Carter Swegman and Teen Vogue column by Naila Amin.
Learn more about the national campaign to end child and forced marriage at https://preventforcedmarriage.org/.
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