Giving Compass' Take:

• New research shows that changing immigration policies in the United States may be preventing survivors of human trafficking and other crimes from seeking help for fear of deportation. 

• How can immigration policies be shaped to protect victims of trafficking and other crimes? What are the safety implications for society if a segment of the population cannot report criminal behavior? 

• Find out how immigration policy influences health. 

Over the past 18 months, the country has witnessed massive shifts in immigration policies and rhetoric, as the Trump administration furthered efforts to increase immigration enforcement, reduce immigration, and scale back protections for people without citizenship. Harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric both during and after the 2016 election has increased fear among many immigrant communities and may be connected to recent rises in hate crimes.

It is still too early to measure the full effects of these policy changes, but some data show that they influence whether immigrant survivors of human trafficking and other crimes seek help:

  • In 2017, 82 percent of surveyed human trafficking social service providers believed foreign-born survivors were hesitant to contact or cooperate with the police because of fears of deportation, suggesting that current immigration policies may have reduced reporting rates.
  • After the 2016 election, immigrant crime reporting rates dropped in three major cities. This enforcement uptick holds particular ramifications for Latinx crime victims, who already face additional barriers to reporting crimes, such as language barriers, historical tensions between communities of color and law enforcement, and fears of revealing immigration status.
  • Recent reports suggest survivors’ fears may not be unfounded, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have made arrests at locations where survivors of trafficking are found, such as the Human Trafficking Intervention Court in Queens, NY.

Read the full article about changing immigration policies by Hanna Love and Lilly Yu at Urban Institute.