SAN ANTONIO – Even before it became law, talk of a bill that would allow law enforcement officers to ask people about their immigration status led to a total of one-third fewer requests for help from the Rape Crisis Center and the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter.
Deana Franks, deputy director of programs for the Rape Crisis Center, said they’ve already seen a 10 percent drop in calls to its hotline and requests for Spanish-speaking counselors.
In just over a month, Marta Pelaez, president and CEO of the Battered Women’s and Children’s Shelter, said she’s seen a 20 percent decline at its shelter and in the counseling it provides.
Franks said the sanctuary cities law that becomes effective Sept. 1, is “going to become even more of a barrier for people to report.”
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Texas already has some of the highest rates of domestic violence and child abuse in the nation, Pelaez said.
“I have no doubt that with the passing of this law, they will be even higher,” she said. “We’re going to see more deaths.”
Both worry that fear of deportation will make victims who are undocumented more vulnerable and their perpetrators less concerned about being brought to justice.
“It’s a matter of life and death,” Pelaez said.
VIDEO: Hear about an emotional encounter with an undocumented victim of domestic violence.
Franks said she agrees.
If undocumented victims are afraid to call for help or report the crime, “Your only choice could be that you take your own life,” Franks said.
She said since rapes and sexual assaults usually are committed by someone the victim knows, “You feel you don’t have a way out.”
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Franks said it’s important those victims know the Rape Crisis Center remains a “safe space” regardless of a victim’s immigration status.
“We don’t care. We don’t ask. We never will,” Franks said.
Pelaez said the same about the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter.
She said immigration status is not a concern when women and children “are running away from threats and sometimes sure death.”
Neither agency calls police. They said that’s up to the victims, but if they do, counselors are available to help through the process.
VIDEO: Reassurances to victims in Spanish from Marta Pelaez and Carmen Vasquez
They urge victims to call regardless of their status, either 210-733-8810 for the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter or 210-349-7273 for the Rape Crisis Center hotline.
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