Domestic-abuse victims fear deportation if they go to police
- Published
Every police force in England and Wales has reported migrants who are domestic-abuse victims to Immigration Enforcement, new data suggests.
Fear of deportation can stop victims coming forward and empower abusers, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales Nicole Jacobs says.
She has written to the home secretary, urging the practice be ended.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) says officers do not routinely investigate victims' migration status.
The figures, obtained from the Home Office and published by Ms Jacobs, show, in the three years to March 2023, police checked the immigration status of 537 complainants in domestic-abuse cases. No victim was detained or removed as a result.
"That no immigration enforcement action was taken against victims shows us that this practice is serving no-one - but the fear it instils creates a high cost to the safety of the victims and the public," Ms Jacobs says.
The court sentencing, external former Metropolitan Police officer and serial rapist David Carrick heard he had told one of his victims he had reported her to immigration authorities, the commissioner points out.
Her report also highlights the case of a Latin American woman whose partner falsely promised to marry her before her UK visitor visa expired. He became controlling and threatened her. A women's support service urged her to report him to the police but officers then contacted Immigration Enforcement in front of her and, after receiving a letter from them, she withdrew from the support service.
Ms Jacobs has written to the home secretary, calling for "a data-sharing firewall" to stop police and other services reporting victims to Immigration Enforcement.
She is also calling for an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, external, which was part of the King's Speech on Tuesday.
'Perpetrator's tactics'
"At the point when victims have come to the police for safety from abuse, they are met with what many fear most - contact with Immigration Enforcement," Ms Jacobs says.
"Migrant victims have told me that this plays into the perpetrator's tactics of control.
"The data shows there is not single police force where migrant victims are treated as victims first and foremost. This must change now."
Under NPCC guidance, police can share basic information, including an address, with Immigration Enforcement, if they suspect a victim or witness may not be legally residing in the UK - but NPCC domestic-abuse lead Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe says this is not routine.
The guidance also "emphasises that the focus of police will always be to investigate the allegation at hand and to put the necessary measures in place to protect the victim or witness from harm", Ms Rolfe says.
She says the referral of 537 victims over three years equates to less than 0.5% of domestic abuse cases but adds: "We know that the fear and exploitation of victims with an uncertain immigration status is very real
"We must ensure we are doing all we can to remove this barrier to reporting and safeguarding all victims of domestic abuse."
However, a Home Office official defended current data-sharing practices as "essential" in helping "remove the perpetrator's control... over victims because of their immigration status".
The Home Office will be introducing a statutory code of practice, including guidance on when data-sharing in relation to domestic-abuse victims for immigration purposes is appropriate, said the official.
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