Categories | Lawsuits & Litigation Article

Abuse Victim Arrested For Mexican Citizenship Status

February 17th, 2017 • Lawsuits & Litigation • 2 minute read
Article Image
Author Sara E. Teller

Abuse Victim Arrested For Mexican Citizenship Status

The war against illegal immigrants in the United States has certainly ramped up under the new administration.  Since taking office just a month ago, President Trump has stated he would cut off federal funding to cities which have policies of protecting illegal immigrants and a history of refusing to cooperate with efforts to deport them.  He is also dead set on creating his infamous Mexican border wall, which would limit entry into the United States.  One is inclined to ask - Are the new policies regarding citizenship status being taken too far?  If an undocumented individual seeks the help of law enforcement for a crime, is it too much to arrest this person rather than pursue the case?

Image Courtesy of Intelligent US PoliticsImage Courtesy of Intelligent US Politics

In an interview after the event, ICE agents admitted to setting up post at the courthouse after receiving a tip, but wouldn’t comment on who had tipped them off.  They confirmed they immediately handcuffed the abuse victim and escorted her outside for deportation.  Bernal was shocked, and believes the arrest was completely unwarranted.  “It doesn’t make sense why the resources would be used to go after a victim of domestic abuse,” she commented.  “It seems to be they are continuing to victimize our client.”It was the first time in well over 20 years that Bernal remembered the agency being present during a report of domestic violence.  It is policy not to ask questions related to anyone’s citizenship status, because everyone has historically been entitled to the same protections and rights to safety under law.  The judge attempted to maintain procedure, but this woman, unfortunately, wasn’t so lucky.

Sources:

Woman in courthouse to obtain protective order is arrested by ICE agents‘This is really unprecedented’: ICE detains woman seeking domestic abuse protection at Texas courthouse 
Sara E. Teller

About Sara E. Teller

Sara is a credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, as well as a novelist and poet with nearly twenty years of experience. A seasoned publishing professional, she's worked for newspapers, magazines and book publishers in content digitization, editorial, acquisitions and intellectual property. Sara has been an invited speaker at a Careers in Publishing & Authorship event at Michigan State University and a Reading and Writing Instructor at Sylvan Learning Center. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduating with a 4.2/4.0 GPA. She is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota and a 2020 recipient of the Donald D. Davis scholarship recognizing social responsibility. Sara is certified in children's book writing, HTML coding and social media marketing. Her fifth book, PTSD: Healing from the Inside Out, was released in September 2019 and is available on Amazon. You can find her others books there, too, including Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide, released in December 2017.

Related Articles