A recent law, the Laken Riley Act, is creating a dangerous reality for immigrant women, enabling abusers to exploit deportation threats and undermining law enforcement efforts.
The Laken Riley Act, passed with the promise of improving public safety, has instead opened a new door for abusers to exert control over their victims, especially immigrant women.
According to experts like Swegman and Velez, the law places these women in an even more vulnerable position, allowing perpetrators to use the fear of deportation to manipulate and threaten them.
Swegman, a prominent advocate for immigrant women’s rights, describes chilling instances where abusers have used tactics like planting stolen items on victims to get them arrested for shoplifting.
This, in turn, can trigger deportation proceedings, subjecting the women to further abuse within the harsh immigration system.
Moreover, legal experts like Cristina Velez from ASISTA fear that the law’s sweeping approach to detention will not only harm victims but also disrupt crucial police investigations.
With some victims now forced into the immigration system, law enforcement’s ability to coordinate criminal investigations is severely hindered.
Despite warnings from survivors and advocates, Congress passed the bill without input from those directly impacted by it. The result is a law that both exacerbates violence and hinders justice, pushing vulnerable individuals deeper into a system they are unlikely to escape.
The act is just the beginning of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on immigration, with further consequences looming for both immigrant communities and law enforcement operations.At a signing ceremony, President Trump made a striking announcement: his administration plans to detain thousands of undocumented immigrants at Guantanamo Bay.
This radical measure follows a troubling increase in calls to immigrant rights centers, like the Tahirih Justice Center, which has seen a sharp rise in cases since the law’s passage. Survivors now report feeling more isolated, with abusers emboldened by the message that they are powerless in the face of government policy.
As lawmakers continue to prioritize measures like the Laken Riley Act, advocates and survivors alike are calling for a re-focus on addressing the root causes of violence against women. Until then, the harm caused by such legislation remains a looming threat to those it was supposed to protect.
Politico