Join our network of advocates defending the rights of all survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and gender-based abuses for access to life-saving protections.

ais SURVEY: Fear and Silence - 2025 Insights from Advocates for Immigrant Survivors

On June 18, 2025, AIS released the results of a nationwide survey of advocates and attorneys assessing how changes to federal immigration policies are impacting the help seeking behaviors of immigrant survivors, including their willingness to engage with law enforcement when they are a victim of a crime. What we heard was clear and alarming: immigrant survivors are more afraid than ever to seek help from the police or the courts. 

One of the stark findings reveals that 76 percent of advocates reported that immigrant survivors have concerns about contacting the police to report domestic violence and sexual assault. “Most of the immigrant survivors that I currently work with are fearful to leave their homes, drive, or be in public spaces as these are all ways that they could be picked up by ICE,” said one advocate in the survey. 

ais STATEMENT: What it really means to keep America safe

This administration’s call for increased militarization of law enforcement and retribution against cities and states with sanctuary policies comes on the heels of increased threats to services and protections for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, putting immigrant survivors and their families at risk of falling through the cracks.

Immigrant survivors know that this is not what safety looks like. Safety means being protected from harm and is rooted in ensuring survivors have the support they need. 

Safety is not accomplished by attacking sanctuary jurisdictions that choose to build community trust with local law enforcement or by ramping up increasingly aggressive and militarized policing methods.

Safety means access for all, because when one survivor fears asking for help, all communities become less safe. 

STATEMENT: AIS Stands with Jennifer Vasquez Sura

We are rooted in survivor centered and survivor led principles of advocacy. In this moment, that means trusting Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Ábrego Garcia, to make the best decisions for herself and her family and to follow her lead.

She has made her position clear. She wants her husband home.

The administration has weaponized a decision made by Jennifer Vasquez Sura to seek a temporary protection order in 2021 in order to justify her husband’s illegal kidnapping and indefinite incarceration. Nothing in Kilmar Ábrego Garcia’s history gives the government permission or an excuse to violate his right to due process or legitimize his illegal removal from the U.S.

Let us be clear: Our movement does not advocate for the erosion of due process or the mass expulsion of immigrants as a solution to violence against women in this country. This is not what makes communities safer.

Media Release: AIS Applauds WISE Act Introduction During Sexual Assault Awareness Month

To mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Jan Schakowsky, Adriano Espaillat, and Jimmy Panetta introduced the Working for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment (WISE) Act. AIS welcomes this vital piece of legislation and calls on every Member of Congress to cosponsor it today.

“The WISE Act presents a roadmap to justice and safety for immigrant survivors across our communities in America and will ensure that every survivor of domestic and sexual violence knows that reaching out for help will be safer than staying silent,” said Archi Pyati, CEO of the Tahirih Justice Center. “We call on every member of Congress to protect the right of immigrant survivors to live in safety and dignity by passing the WISE Act.”