The Tahirih Justice Center is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides free legal and social services, advocacy, training, and education in support of immigrant women, girls, and all survivors of gender-based violence. By understanding and sharing the experiences of survivors, we are working to create a world in which all people share equal rights and can live in safety, with dignity.
On November 25, 2024, Tahirih hosted a webinar focused on learning from past experiences and preparing for potential policy changes affecting immigrant survivors of gender-based violence under the next presidential administration.
Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy, Adi Nunez Huang, Director of Client Experience, and Morgan Weibel, Director of Client Advocacy Legal Services, shared their reflections about the legal and social challenges immigrant survivors faced between 2017 and 2021, and how Tahirih is preparing to continue to serve and advocate for our clients and communities despite the uncertainty of what’s to come.
Lessons Learned from Prior Policy Changes
In 2017, immigrants were facing significant challenges due to dramatic changes in federal immigration policies and priorities. At that time, the Tahirih Justic Center and a coalition of national organizations surveyed 715 lawyers and advocates from 46 states and the District of Columbia, to understand how these changes were impacting survivors of gender-based violence just months into the new administration.
We saw a marked chilling effect in survivors’ comfort seeking help from law enforcement and other agencies. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported their clients expressed fear of contacting the police. Said one, “after the news broke that a woman who was filing for an order of protection against her abuser was deported, many of my clients became concerned that something similar would happen to them.”
Fully 43% of those surveyed reported having a client – a victim of a crime — who decided to end their pursuit of justice and protection in the criminal and civil courts, because they were concerned about exposing themselves to deportation. “This is real, and now [a] legitimate fear” said one advocate. Read more from this important survey here and the follow-up survey in 2019.
Congress enacted protections for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence for a reason. When survivors are afraid to seek help or continue to hold abusers accountable for fear of deportation, they are left with few if any options to get safe. We must not make the act of escaping abuse more frightening than staying. Everyone deserves to live in a safe home and community.
The Landscape for 2025, and Beyond
At a national level, mass deportations have been threatened as the centerpiece of a dramatic shift in immigration policy in 2025. While the exact details and contours of changes to policy remain unknown, we have prior experience as our guide. Previous Attorneys General have sought to deny asylum protections for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence by “certifying” individual cases, denying legal protections, and setting a cruel national precedent. While access to asylum is likely to face further narrowing and increased barriers to access, gender-based asylum in particular remains at unique risk of complete elimination under the next administration.
The incoming administration has already announced its intention to rescind guidelines that protect immigrants from immigration enforcement at schools, churches, healthcare centers and courthouses, sending the message that there may be no “safe spaces” in communities. This is a truly frightening prospect for undocumented survivors who may no longer feel comfortable going to work and lose economic stability and may even decide not to seek medical attention for injuries resulting from abuse given the potential risk of being referred to ICE for removal as a result of seeking care.
In addition, we remain concerned that the next administration has signaled it may leverage regulatory change and rulemaking to create more barriers and narrow pathways to survivor-based protections like the U and T visa and the VAWA self-petition. The incoming administration could also call on Congress to act to eliminate these vital programs entirely, which would make all survivors and communities less safe.
Tahirih is also concerned about states being emboldened to take additional actions that further erode protection in local communities, including in states like Texas and Georgia, where we have offices and serve survivors of crime every day. Operation Lone Star in Texas has already led to increased deportation efforts, sweeping up a wide swath of the community and inciting fear. In Georgia, the new law, HB 1105, requires all law enforcement in the state to hold any individual who cannot provide proof of their immigration status and refer them to ICE, regardless of the nature of their initial contact with police.
We have already seen other states attempting similar actions to scapegoat immigrant communities under the guise of crime prevention. Such actions undermine community trust in the systems of protection people are supposed to rely upon for safety and justice and do not prevent violence. Tahirih Justice Center’s 2025 Action Plan
The Tahirih Justice Center is working to build a world where all survivors of gender-based violence — regardless of immigration status — can achieve safety and justice. This is our duty under our own laws and as a nation of abundance and opportunity. We have a clear vision for the world we want to live in — one that supports women, girls, and all survivors of violence in accessing safety, stability, and their full potential as members of the human family.
Read our five principles for a survivor-centered, trauma-informed immigration framework to learn about our solutions. These are principles we believe any policymaker in the United States, at any level of government, should share. Below are some of the immediate actions we are taking to ensure immigrant survivors of gender-based violence can continue to access the safety and justice they deserve.
High-quality, trauma-informed, legal representation. The single largest determiner of success in these cases is having a knowledgeable lawyer at your side. Tahirih will continue providing expert representation to survivors in immigration courts across the country and we will offer training and technical assistance to pro bono attorneys and our movement partners, providing accurate information to dispel misinformation, and proven, fact-based legal strategies for success.
Safety planning with Tahirih clients, and in our communities. With offices in northern Virginia, Baltimore, Atlanta, Houston, and the Bay Area, Tahirih will support our clients and communities as they plan ways to stay safe at home and continue their pursuit of long-term stability. We will provide survivors with accurate up to the minute information about their legal rights and play a leadership role in educating our communities.
Individual and class-based legal strategies. In addition to direct representation before immigration courts, the Tahirih litigation team stands ready to address violations of the law and federal procedure in the appellate and federal courts to defend the humanitarian pathways enshrined in our laws and upon which immigrant survivors depend for safety.
Policy advocacy at the federal and state levels. Tahirih will continue to engage in congressional education, legislative analysis, and advocacy to defend immigrant rights and amplify our vision of a humane immigration system that allows survivors to build safer, brighter futures in the United States. In addition to our federal work, we are building up our policy capacity in Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, and California, as the states are increasingly a laboratory for policy change and impact.
The most effective way to navigate the challenges to come will be through collective effort and solidarity. The Tahirih Justice Center has worked tirelessly to build protections for immigrant survivors of gender-based harm into the legal system, with many partners – including survivors – over decades of advocacy. We will continue our work to defend and expand protections for survivors of gender-based violence in communities, courts, and Congress so that all women and girls have the opportunity to live free from violence. The lives of women, girls, and all survivors of gender-based violence matter, and we will continue to stand with them, and alongside our movement partners, to create the world of safety, stability, and opportunity we believe in.
If you would like to request a link to the recorded webinar Tahirih hosted on November 25th or if you have questions and would like to be in touch about our work, please contact Casey Carter Swegman at [email protected].
