Fear and Silence: 2025 Insights from Advocates for Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking
Federal immigration policies sow fear, not safety
December 8, 2025 – Changes to federal immigration policies since November 2024 are negatively impacting the help-seeking behaviors of immigrant survivors—including their willingness to engage with law enforcement when they are a victim of a crime—according to a nationwide survey of advocates and attorneys conducted by the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors (AIS).
While AIS published a summary of the topline survey results earlier this year, we are releasing a report today that expands on previous findings and provides further insights into what advocates are reporting and witnessing when working this year with immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
“What we heard was clear and alarming: immigrant survivors are more afraid than ever to seek help from the police or the courts,” said AIS Advocacy Coordinator Cecelia Friedman Levin. Seventy-six percent of advocates reported that immigrant survivors have concerns about contacting the police to report domestic violence and sexual assault.
Policies, protocols, and guidance introduced this year–with others emerging all the time–have made immigrant survivors wary of police and courts. At the same time, a sharp increase in immigration enforcement in communities has stoked fear and even resulted in survivors being detained and deported. Local law enforcement participation in federal immigration actions, the detention and deportation of victims of crime who have come forward, and enforcement actions at courthouses all work against the intent of critical protections for immigrant survivors enshrined by Congress for decades, such as the Violence Against Women Act.
"This fear is rooted in both past trauma and the current perception–sometimes confirmed–that local law enforcement may collaborate with federal immigration authorities. As a result, many choose not to seek help, leaving them isolated and at greater risk. This chilling effect not only endangers survivors but also weakens community trust in systems designed to offer protections," says a holistic services provider in the report.
Our original survey findings revealed that:
70.3 percent of advocates report that immigrant survivors have concerns about going to court for a matter related to their abuser.
50 percent of advocates have worked with immigrant survivors who decided to drop civil or criminal cases because they were fearful to continue with their cases.
79.7 percent of respondents observed an increase in the number of immigration-related questions that their agencies were receiving from immigrant survivors since November 2024.
Our new report, Fear and Silence: 2025 Insights from Advocates for Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking, dives deeper into why fewer immigrant survivors are seeking help from police and courts and what they are asking of advocates, including the need for information, support, and legal aid (e.g. adjusting legal status).
“One of the survivors that I work with was asked immigration related questions during a deposition for a criminal case and decided to no longer participate with the criminal investigation or prosecutor’s efforts out of fear that they would be detained in the courtroom,” said one victim service provider who participated in our survey.
The report explores the increasing hardships survivors face in the current climate, including lack of legal resources, financial hardship, and abusers using the threat of deportation to keep survivors from seeking safety. Fear and Silence features more voices of advocates sharing stories and their concerns over the mounting challenges survivors are facing. Advocates have noted a decrease in Spanish-speaking survivors calling for support or services and some have changed their service approach in response to survivor needs. The report includes targeted recommendations for Congress, the Administration, State and Local Government Agencies, and Advocates.
“This survey shows us the grave chilling effect that recent immigration policy changes are having on immigrant survivors of violence. This is the message they are receiving: either stay with your abuser or risk deportation.”
The Alliance for Immigrant Survivors (AIS) is a national network of advocates and allies dedicated to defending and advocating for policies that ensure immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other gender-based abuses have access to life-saving protections that all survivors of violence deserve. No government funds were used to support this product.