The Hill (Op-Ed)
By Grace Huang
July 23, 2015
As
a long time advocate working with domestic violence victims, I am
acutely aware of the impact that legislation has on real people living
in communities across the U.S.
This
week, as Congress engaged in a focused discussion over immigration
enforcement, I had the honor of being invited to testify before the
Senate Judiciary Committee.
I hope my voice was heard, along with those of others who shared the
witness table.
The
hearing was spurred by a tragic event, the killing of Kathryn Steinle, a
San Francisco woman who was fatally shot while sightseeing with her
father, Jim. The man charged
with her death was an undocumented immigrant.
I
was on a Senate panel with Jim Steinle, who spoke lovingly of his
daughter. Other hearing witnesses, also family members of victims of
crimes committed by undocumented
immigrants, expressed grief and frustration over their loss and our
broken immigration system. As a decades-long advocate for the survivors
of crime, I understand their sorrow. I extended my heartfelt condolences
to the families.
I
share frustration over the current state of immigration system -- an
outdated mishmash of laws that do not always seem to make sense. The
solution to these problems
is commonsense immigration reform, which brings some of the most
vulnerable crime victims out of the shadows, not the reactionary
legislation that is being introduced in the wake of Steinle’s death.
Some
lawmakers are taking advantage of the publicity over Steinle’s tragic
death to push anti-immigrant legislation and to blame this incident on
policies that limit entanglement
between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Over
320 localities have embraced policies that reject this type of
collaboration, because it undermines trust between local police and the
communities they serve to protect.
Members
of Congress have even threatened to strip away essential federal grant
money for law enforcement in communities that have adopted these types
of community policing
policies. This approach would harm victims, citizens and immigrants
alike.
Congress is taking exactly the wrong approach to this very serious issue.
Members
of immigrant communities will not come forward to report crimes or
speak as witnesses to crimes if local or state police also are checking
their immigration status.
Law enforcement leaders have stated repeatedly they do not want to be
immigration law enforcers precisely because it interferes with their
primary mission to fight crime.
In
my years of experience in the domestic violence community and victim
advocacy community, I have seen firsthand that when immigrant victims
are reluctant to come forward
to report crimes, it makes all of our community less safe. Congress
affirmed that principle by establishing the U visa for victims of
serious crimes and immigration remedies under the Violence Against Women
Act, and it has repeatedly reaffirmed it by reauthorizing
that critical law.
Before
the committee, I shared the stories of real women that highlighted the
chilling effect for immigrant crime victims when they fear coming
forward to police. One
of these victims is a young Guatemalan girl living in Colorado, who was
sexually abused by a family friend at the age of five. Mistrust of
police prevented her parents from reporting the abuse. A year later,
after another young child was victimized by the
same attacker, both fathers reported the crimes to the police and the
perpetrator was prosecuted. But the second child might not have been
harmed had the father of the first victim not been afraid to reach out
to the police.
The
story is different when communities trust police. In Seattle, where I
live, more than two dozen sexual assaults were committed against Asian
women waiting for the
bus. Their willingness to come forward led to the arrest of the
attacker.
I
plead with lawmakers to also consider the stories of these victims of
crime and to consider the impact of their proposals on ALL victims of
crime.
Please
remember that the most important thing we can do is build strong
relationships between police and their communities, and that means
establishing an environment
of trust. If victims and witnesses of crime do not feel safe to step
forward, the police cannot do their jobs and we are all less safe.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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