“We need to stop enacting laws that strengthen the hand of abusers, and start valuing the lives of women as much as those of men”
Following is a statement from Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center about H.R. 29., the “Laken Riley Act.”
The Tahirih Justice Center works with survivors of gender-based violence to co-create a U.S. legal system that provides access to safety, dignity, and a life free of harm. Our expertise focuses on policies impacting immigrant survivors of gender-based violence, and ending forced and child marriage in the United States. Tahirih is a nonpartisan organization that does not engage in politics. Instead, we evaluate the human impact of policies and laws.
Laken Riley was the victim of femicide. She was a daughter, sister, and friend who made a lasting impression on the people who knew her. Above all, she was a person and, as her loved ones have said, her life matters. Our work at the Tahirih Justice Center is about building a world where all women are safe, in their communities and in their homes. We are motivated, every day, to eradicate gender-based violence and harm.
Laws written to honor someone who has been failed by a system should address the true problem. H.R. 29, a law passed by the House of Representatives, imposes immigration restrictions that will harm survivors of violence. We cannot support such a law.
As experts in gender-based violence, we know that a common tactic used by abusers is to accuse their victims of crimes they did not commit, or force them to participate in crimes under duress. Fear of arrest is a powerful tool abusers use to control their victims, threatening them with incarceration and separation from children and support systems. When victims of abuse are immigrants, exploiting their fear of deportation becomes an additional tool for coercive control.
We want to live in a world where law enforcement can parse the difference between a victim and a perpetrator, and victims can access safety instead of added punishment. We want to live in a world where survivors of gender-based violence are trusted and protected. We do not live in that world today.
Instead, we live in a world where abusers know how to use law enforcement and the criminal legal system against their victims. When their victims are immigrants, abusers also know that threatening to have them deported is one of the most powerful tools of coercive control and manipulation.
H.R. 29 strengthens the hand of abusers. One call to law enforcement; one accusation of a crime someone didn’t commit, or was forced to commit under threat, and a victim of abuse could be separated from the people she loves — for a lifetime.
The culture of violence against women is endemic in the United States, as well as other countries. If we want to address femicide, intimate partner violence, child abuse, rape, human trafficking, and other harms, we need to recognize the roots of the problem; understand the lived experiences of survivors of gender-based violence; and enact solutions that help them get safe and move on from the most challenging moments of their lives.
We need law enforcement to be trusted partners, not tools for manipulation. We need to stop enacting laws that strengthen the hand of abusers, and start valuing the lives of all women as much as those of men.
Resources
“How Mass Deportations Will Separate American Families, Harm Our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy,” testimony submitted by the Tahirih Justice Center to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, December 2024
“AT RISK, AGAIN: Protections for Immigrant Survivors of Gender-Based Violence Should be Expanded, Not Ended,” Tahirih Justice Center, December 2024
“Pathways to Progress: Key Principles for a Trauma-Informed and Survivor-Centered Immigration Framework,” Tahirih Justice Center, September 2024
