Human Rights Watch, the Alliance of Immigrant Survivors, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and other partners, submitted a statement of record to Congress on July 10 as the Trump administration continues to use state and local police via the 287(g) agreements that allow these agencies to participate in federal immigration enforcement.
The statement emphasizes that survivors of domestic violence and trafficking need to be able to trust local authorities and comes in the wake of Congress’s June authorization of over US$31 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and to support 287(g) agreements with more than 2,000 local law enforcement agencies nationwide.
While the administration claims to be targeting “the worst of the worst,” since President Donald Trump took office to this March, 66 percent of those who have been arrested have no conviction and 38 percent have neither a conviction nor a pending charge.
Human Rights Watch and the Alliance of Immigrant Survivors have gathered accounts of police arresting immigrant women in domestic violence situations, then transferring them to ICE custody. We’ve also heard from two lawyers about cases where they say police also arrested women in “prostitution” stings and then passed these women over to ICE who then detained them. The women’s lawyers allege it was clear that they were victims of human trafficking.
Local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE increases fears of detention, deportation, and family separation, harming community safety by negatively impacting community trust, especially for immigrant survivors of domestic violence. As survivors become too scared to report crime, abusers are empowered—risking community safety for all. To that end, our statement warns when we “shut immigrant survivors out of protection systems, we lose critical opportunities to identify and intervene with harm doers early, before patterns of abuse deepen and more people are hurt or worse.”
As law enforcement ramps up efforts to meet the administration’s aggressive deportation goals, it is essential for community safety that authorities prioritize protecting survivors regardless of their immigration status. Congress should make sure that the increased funding it has provided to ICE does not further undermine immigrant survivors, women’s rights, and community safety across the country.
Facts Only
* Human Rights Watch, the Alliance of Immigrant Survivors, and Americans for Immigrant Justice submitted a statement of record to Congress on July 10.
* The statement concerns the use of state and local police via 287(g) agreements for federal immigration enforcement by the Trump administration.
* The statement emphasizes the need for immigrant survivors of domestic violence and trafficking to trust local authorities.
* Congress authorized over US$31 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
* There are 287(g) agreements with more than 2,000 local law enforcement agencies nationwide.
* 66 percent of those arrested since President Trump took office have no conviction.
* 38 percent of those arrested have neither a conviction nor a pending charge.
* Groups gathered accounts of police arresting immigrant women in domestic violence situations and transferring them to ICE custody.
* Lawyers reported instances where police arrested women for "prostitution" stings and transferred them to ICE detention, alleging human trafficking.
* The groups warn that increased cooperation with ICE increases fears of detention, deportation, and family separation.
Executive Summary
Partners, including Human Rights Watch and the Alliance of Immigrant Survivors, submitted a statement to Congress regarding the Trump administration's use of state and local police through 287(g) agreements for federal immigration enforcement. The statement argues that immigrant survivors of domestic violence and trafficking require trust in local authorities. This argument arises in the context of Congress authorizing over US$31 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the existing 287(g) agreements with over 2,000 local law enforcement agencies.
The statement highlights a disparity in arrest outcomes, noting that among those arrested since President Trump took office, 66 percent have no conviction and 38 percent have neither a conviction nor a pending charge. Furthermore, the groups cited accounts where police arrested immigrant women in domestic violence situations and transferred them to ICE custody. Lawyers also reported instances where women were arrested for "prostitution" stings and subsequently transferred to ICE detention, alleging these were cases of human trafficking.
The statement warns that increased cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE heightens fears of detention, deportation, and family separation, which negatively impacts community safety by eroding trust among immigrant survivors. The groups contend that excluding survivors from protection systems hinders efforts to identify and intervene with abusers early, potentially allowing patterns of abuse to deepen. They call for authorities to prioritize protecting survivors regardless of immigration status, arguing that increased ICE funding should not undermine women's rights or community safety.
Full Take
The narrative constructs a clear tension between institutional enforcement goals and the immediate safety and trust required within communities, particularly for vulnerable populations. The framing juxtaposes stated administrative intentions—targeting severe criminality—against lived experiences documented by survivors regarding police interactions and subsequent detention. A key pattern involves the suggestion that collaboration with enforcement bodies inherently compromises the protective function of local law enforcement when dealing with marginalized groups. The argument moves from specific anecdotal evidence (arrests, trafficking allegations) to a macro-level warning about community safety and the failure of intervention systems.
The reliance on survivor testimony and lawyer accounts functions as a counterpoint to institutional narratives concerning public safety. The implication is that policies designed for external enforcement result in internal harm by delegitimizing local mechanisms for protection. This echoes historical patterns where enforcement priorities shift away from community-based support structures, often leading to increased vulnerability for those already marginalized. The request for Congressional oversight functions as a call for accountability within the established legal framework, suggesting that the mechanism of enforcement itself is problematic when applied without regard for context.
The unspoken assumption is that local law enforcement acts as a primary guarantor of safety; eroding that trust creates a vacuum filled by fear and potential danger. This pattern suggests that focusing solely on detention metrics overlooks the systemic cost: the erosion of social capital necessary for effective public safety management. The missing inquiry is what specific structural changes could mandate that protection systems are integrated with, rather than bypassed by, federal immigration enforcement mandates, and how can local agencies be empowered to serve as trusted conduits for all forms of victim support.