On Trial for Being Victims of Trauma: Sexual Abuse of Migrants in ICE Custody

United States officials recorded 100,441 encounters with migrants at the border in February, which is three times the number from the same time last year. While much of the world has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and increased awareness of systemic racism, and understandably so, the global crisis of forced displacement secondary to armed conflict, torture, and persecution has continued at numbers that are now almost four times greater than those after World War II. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) reports that there are currently 79.5 million displaced people worldwide and that approximately 38% to 43% of these individuals are children.

Last December the APA Board of Trustees approved the Position Statement on Sexual Abuse of Migrants in ICE Custody, jointly written by APA’s Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, Committee on Women’s Mental Health, and Council on Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities. This statement was a response to the U.S. Office of the Inspector General’s reports that document over 1,310 allegations of sexual abuse of migrants from 2013 to 2017 filed with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Health and Human Services. It is even more disturbing that the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement has received over 4,500 complaints of the sexual abuse of children in migrant shelters from 2014 to 2018.

If only some of these allegations are true, they are horrifying and shameful. Migrant families are especially vulnerable. They are at risk for sexual and domestic violence in their countries of origin, and these are often the reason they flee the only country they have ever called home. Instances of sexual assault can be especially high in conflict zones: during the civil wars in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, 23% to 94% of women reported that at least one family member experienced sexual assault. As of June 2017, approximately 30% of children reported sexual or gender-based violence in their home country, and 21% reported migrating to escape this form of trauma, according to Kids in Need of Defense.

Unfortunately, migrants remain at risk for sexual violence in the peri-migration phase of their journey. Nearly half of migrant women and children surveyed in Libya for a 2017 UNICEF study reported sexual violence and abuse on their journey, at multiple times and locations. This study reports that a growing number of girls and women fleeing torture and persecution take birth-control shots to prevent pregnancy due to assault and that women and children who enter into a “pay as you go” arrangement with smugglers are often left in debt and vulnerable to sexual abuse and trafficking. According to Amnesty International, approximately 30% to 60% of Latin American women and children are sexually assaulted en route to the United States by smugglers, other migrants, or even governmental officials.

It is especially cruel, tragic, and reprehensible that migrant women and children are sexually assaulted in the very country where they seek refuge from the sexual abuse and trauma they endured in their country of origin and while en route to their destination. Yet, the aforementioned reports from the Office of the Inspector General and Office of Refugee Resettlement tell us this is exactly what is happening within our nation’s borders.

These reports highlight how the immigration system in the United States is broken. Rather than lead with the virtues we proclaim to hold dear, such as freedom, liberty, and justice for all, the most vulnerable members of society who come begging for mercy at our doorstep are met with skepticism, cynicism, mistrust, judgment, racism, and sexism. We put people on trial for being victims of trauma. We treat the people who risk everything for peace and healing as con artists, deplorables, criminals, and perpetrators of heinous crimes themselves.

We must continue to advocate for the humane, just, and civilized treatment of migrants who seek refuge from torture, persecution, and violence in our nation. This begins with decriminalizing the process of sanctuary and an end to for-profit prisons and detention centers that benefit financially from long-term imprisonment. This federal funding should be used to support centers in the community to house migrants, help them show up for immigration court dates, and provide mental health and other support or rehabilitation services. It also requires mental health training for immigration judges, immigration officers, border police, and other immigration staff. And it means keeping families together, all of the time, no matter what.

We can achieve an immigration system that actually reflects the founding values of our nation if we join together and continue to advocate fiercely, passionately, and consistently on this issue. Physician advocacy means using our platform for those in society without a voice. With the continued support of APA and our membership, anything is possible! ■