As Immigration and Customs Enforcement steps up enforcement in Massachusetts, organizations aiding survivors of sexual and domestic violence say fewer people are using their services.
Undocumented immigrants and refugees already faced challenges in seeking help over fears of deportation.
Nithya Badrinath, policy director for the nonprofit Jane Doe Inc., said the growing number of ICE agents in neighborhoods is keeping people home.
“We’ve heard from programs, who are the ones working directly with survivors, that they’ve seen ICE agents in parking lots,” Badrinath reported. “I think surveillance is a huge thing, right, and that just really, really makes survivors fear even seeking services.”
Badrinath reminded survivors confidential support and safety resources are still available statewide and she urged everyone to know their rights before encountering an ICE agent.
Democratic lawmakers in Congress have introduced the “No Secret Police Act,” which would require ICE agents to clearly wear identification and ban them from wearing masks. They said plainclothes officers in homemade face coverings are terrorizing immigrant communities, often detaining law-abiding citizens at their jobs, courthouses, and outside schools.
Badrinath noted she and her colleagues have had to plan for ICE potentially showing up to social service agencies and argued everyone should have a safety plan.
“While ICE officers may or may not be identifying themselves, being aware of your surroundings and making sure that you are calm as much as you can in a situation and being able to assert your rights,” Badrinath outlined.
Community organizations began to set up emergency hotlines and “know-your-rights training” following the arrest of Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk last March in Somerville. Video of the incident showed six masked agents in plain clothes encircle and handcuff her before placing her in an unmarked van. Someone nearby can be heard on the recording asking if it was a kidnapping.
