Domestic violence hotline sees sharp rise in calls from immigrants ‒ study

RT reports:

The most popular domestic violence hotline in the US has reported a 30 percent increase from 2015 in calls from undocumented immigrants. Their data shows that the growing fear of deportation began during the 2016 presidential election.

A recent report from the National Domestic Violence Hotline states that it responded to 7,053 phone calls, texts and online contacts in 2016 that involve immigration-related concerns, up 30 percent from 2015, the Associated Press reported on Monday.


Katie Ray-Jones, CEO of the hotline, said the spike in calls from undocumented immigrants happened just after President Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for president and the party began calling for tougher enforcement of immigration laws.

Ray-Jones told the Associated Press that many victims had been threatened by their abusers, who have used immigration status as leverage to control their victim’s behavior. Many of the women who call say they have been threatened by their abusers and if they ever tried calling the police, the abuser would contact US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport them.

“We're not in a place where we can say, 'Oh, don't worry. That's not going to happen,'" Ray-Jones said.

Kim Gandy, president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence said the victims are afraid that deportation would cause them to be separated from their children.

“It’s about the worst threat you can make to someone,” Gandy told AP.

Great moments of illegal immigration.