Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Thursday, January 15, the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) led by DWC Policy Task Force Co-Chair Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), DWC Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Liaison Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and DWC member Gwen Moore (WI-04) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem demanding that DHS reinstate protections for immigrant survivors and release the applicants for survivor visas currently held in detention. 

This letter is a follow up from a July letter in which Rep. Moore and Rep. Jayapal asked DHS to reinstate an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive that protects victims of crimes seeking a T or U visa from immigration enforcement. DHS failed to respond in any meaningful way or work with Members to address this urgent concern. Thus, in today’s letter, the Members demanded a meeting with Secretary Noem so she can answer for her failure to protect survivors.  

DHS’s failure to protect immigrant survivors is yet another example of their attacks on women. Last week, an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, and the FBI is failing to conduct a fair and transparent investigation. Over the last year, the Democratic Women’s Caucus has repeatedly sounded the alarm about how ICE’s use of masks and unarmed vehicles and mistreatment of girls and women are a grave threat to women’s safety. Additionally, DWC members have demanded that ICE confront the agency’s mistreatment of pregnant women. 

In today’s letter, the Members demanded that DHS immediately reinstate the policy to protect survivors and release individuals in custody with survivor visa applications.

“We call on you to address this issue by immediately reinstating the survivor-protective policy, ICE Directive 11005.3, and by acting consistently with that policy to release individuals with bona fide pending VAWA, T and U visa applications. Our laws promise immigrant survivors protection in exchange for their cooperation with law enforcement, a process that carries real risk, particularly when reporting gender-based violence. Those protections, such as deferred action, may not be unilaterally revoked by ICE.” 

The Members also explained that the policies that provide protections for survivors who come forward are essential to protecting both survivors and the law enforcement process. 

“Upholding these safeguards is essential to the well-being of women and children and to maintaining the trust that allows survivors to come forward to help law enforcement in identifying and prosecuting perpetrators. The more that survivors can trust government systems to protect them, the more law enforcement can do their job to keep the community safe and save lives.”

Read the full letter here.

In addition to letter leads Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Pramila Jayapal, and Gwen Moore, the letter was signed by, Judy Chu, Jasmine Crockett, Maxine Dexter, Debbie Dingell, Val Hoyle, Doris Matsui, LaMonica McIver, Kelly Morrison, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Delia Ramirez, Deborah Ross, Andrea Salinas, Hillary Scholten, Lateefah Simon, Melanie Stansbury, Rashida Tlaib, Lauren Underwood, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Frederica Wilson, Teresa Leger Fernández, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.