The Decision to Seek Emergency Treatment at a Hospital or Seek Safety From Abuse At A Domestic Violence Shelter Just Became Much Harder For Millions of Women In Our Country
Yesterday, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security announced that the Department is rescinding ICE’s Protected Areas (or Sensitive Zones) policy. The policy, some version of which has been in place since 2011, prevents ICE officers from entering sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, child welfare agencies, and domestic violence shelters to arrest and deport migrants. Rescinding the policy will allow ICE officers to enter these locations at will, constrained only by their interpretation of “common sense.”
“Eliminating sensitive zone protections will have devastating consequences for migrant women and children, including survivors of domestic violence and child abuse,” said Zain Lakhani, director of the Women’s Refugee Commission’s (WRC’s) Migrant Rights and Justice program. “Knowing that these spaces were safe allowed a migrant parent to take their child to the hospital or go to a domestic violence shelter if they or their children were experiencing abuse.”
Research has shown that giving ICE permission to carry out enforcement actions in sensitive locations increases the number of arrests and deportations in those spaces. It also forces migrant survivors into impossible choices between their immediate safety and the safety of their children and the risk of deportation. Allowing law enforcement officers to enter shelters and emergency rooms to arrest vulnerable migrants further risks causing trauma to all survivors seeking safety there.
In recent weeks and months, Congress and the administration have spoken often about the imperative to protect women from harm, while taking actions that do little to protect women and, in fact, worsen harms to migrant survivors. The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, now moving quickly through Congress, subjects survivors to detention and deportation if they act in self-defense against their abusers or “fail to protect” their children from witnessing abuse – in effect punishing victims for their own abuse. In combination, the law and repeal of sensitive zones would make it harder for migrant survivors to protect themselves and their children, while imposing criminal consequences if they fail to do so. These changes hand a powerful tool for coercion back to abusers, allowing them to threaten victims with arrest and deportation if they try to leave an abusive situation or report their abuse to the authorities.
WRC advocates for laws and policies that protect and support survivors. We encourage Congress to pass the Protect Sensitive Locations Act, which would protect migrants access to these vital services. State and local governments can also take action to protect access to sensitive locations, including passing legislation that restricts immigration enforcement in these spaces.
We must reject policies that make it harder for migrant women to protect themselves and their families, cause trauma to our communities, and infuse our safest spaces with fear. We must advance policies that keep everyone in our communities safe.
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