Latinos Reporting Fewer Sexual Assaults to LAPD in 2017

According to a recent L.A. Times article, the current culture of fear amidst the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration laws has caused Latinos to report fewer sexual assault and domestic violence cases. From the beginning of 2017 through mid-March, reports of sexual assault from the Latino community dropped 25% over reports during this same time period in 2016, and reports of domestic violence dropped 10%. However, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) did not see similar decreases in crime reports from other ethnic communities during the same time period. Meanwhile, in East Los Angeles, the mayor signed an executive directive that expanded the existing LAPD policy of not stopping individuals solely to question them about their immigration status, a policy that has been in place since 1979. Under the new directive, the policy now also includes three other city agencies: the Fire Department, the Airport Police, and the Port Police. In 2014, LAPD also stopped the practice of honoring requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain individuals in their custody for potential deportation proceedings. LAPD initiated these policies in order to prevent the immigrant community from being so afraid of deportation that they will not report crimes or cooperate with police. ICE’s response is that certain crime victims and witnesses to crimes who have no legal status may be able to obtain special visas that would allow them to remain in the country legally. Furthermore, ICE stated, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also can consider an individual’s status as a crime victim in deciding whether to pursue deportation proceedings against that individual. ICE claims that the LAPD’s refusal to honor its detainer requests is a far greater risk to public safety than building stronger ties between local law enforcement agencies and the immigrant community by not inquiring about a person’s immigration status. Despite the federal administration’s crackdown on immigrants without legal status, the skilled and knowledgeable California immigration lawyers of Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C. are here to help immigrants get released from detention and defend them from removal. We represent clients in these types of cases on a daily basis; as a result, we can offer you our valuable knowledge about how to best proceed in your removal case. By contacting our office right away, your loved ones will have a better chance of winning release from detention and succeeding in their removal proceedings.