Charito Calvachi-Mateyko has seen people in distress, which deeply impacts her daily life. She’s seen families physically move away from a situation before asking the police to intervene. She tears up when she tells the stories of friends and community members who have been abused. As the Immigrants’ Rights Organizer for ACLU Delaware, she has spoken to many people in Sussex County about their encounters with law enforcement.

“I see the fear factor. The traumatic response [to] trusting the police to protect them,” said Calvachi-Mateyko. “In some way, they see it connected with immigration.”

Senate Bill 17, the first modernization of the Delaware Victims’ Bill of Rights since 1994, aims to “strengthen and expand the rights of crime victims and witnesses in Delaware” by expanding access to support services, improving communication between law enforcement agencies, and so on. One particular addition to the bill is protection for immigrant victims of crime from being “detained by law enforcement or turned over to federal immigration authorities unless there is a judicial warrant.”

The bill is currently in the Senate Finance Committee.

“I think everything you do to protect immigrants is good,” Calvachi-Mateyko said. “This is one step towards that. It’s not everything.”

Whether or not protections in the current Victims’ Bill of Rights apply to immigrants is unclear because there is no mention of the rights of immigrants who are victims of crime. SB 17 seeks to change that by enshrining protections in the law.

This bill has been in the works since 2023, when a task force was created by then-Sen. Kyle Evans Gay to discuss what would be included. The task force comprised many victim services advocates, including Angela Seguin, executive director of the Delaware Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. It was her task force subgroup, the Rights of Special Victims, that suggested codifying protections for immigrant victims after looking at similar protections in other states.

“What we proposed is likely done in practice, but I cannot really speak to that,” wrote Seguin in an email to Delaware Call. “We believed that it was important to add because immigrant victims often do not seek help or report crimes against them because they are fearful of reporting to police.” 

Attorney General Kathy Jennings stated in a Know Your Rights information page that her focus is on “tackling violent crime” and not making “witnesses think twice about reporting crime or to undermine public trust in law enforcement.” The director of external affairs for the Department of Justice, Mat Marshall, doubled-down on the AG’s comments, writing to Delaware Call via email: “When undocumented immigrants have reported crime, or testified against criminals in Delaware, we have never moved to punish them for doing so — in the most meritorious cases we have even moved to provide them with visa assistance, though that has relied on willing federal partners.”

For victims of no immigration status, there are multiple avenues to find relief. Individuals facing domestic abuse can gain legal permanent residency under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Victims of serious crimes like human trafficking or assault can apply for a U or T visa. The U visa can take five to eight years before it gets approved. It offers temporary protection for victims of serious crimes like domestic violence and trafficking who are willing to help law enforcement. Marshall estimates that the DOJ signs off on 10 U visas per year in Delaware. But, without reporting the crime, there is no way to get this immigration relief.

Rick Hogan, founding partner of the immigration law firm Hogan & Vanderberg, said that there is a small number of people who apply for the U visa, leaving hundreds without any relief.

“The U visas are the ones that they did call the police,” he said in an interview with Delaware Call. “The issue really is the ones that don’t call the police. That’s ten times the issue, ten times the problem.”

Hogan has seen many cases, especially domestic violence cases, where women will stay with an abusive partner for years because they are afraid of calling the police and then being deported. 

“She’s willing to get beat up regularly rather than go back to wherever she came from,” he said.

The consequence of not reporting is usually further harm. 

A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report on declines in police reporting stated that violence committed by intimate partners, family members, and acquaintances is less likely to be reported 

than stranger violence. 

“Not being able to easily access helping resources may leave immigrant victims vulnerable to further abuse,” wrote Seguin in an email. “Immigrant victims who experience intimate partner violence or human trafficking are at particular risk because their abusers often use this fear as a tactic of control, by reinforcing fears of deportation, and because the victim is isolated from resources that might help them get away from the abuser.” 

In that same report, the authors mentioned a 2011 study with Latino immigrant laborers in New Orleans and found that they often accepted wage theft by employers rather than contacting the police due to fear of deportation. 

At the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, they make sure people know that they can report crimes to the police if they choose. José Zavala Chavez, the bilingual victims of crime coordinator, said it’s very common that immigrants in the Latino community might not go to the police, especially for domestic violence. 

“I think in general it is a stigma to report a crime within the family or even in general,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be family-related because of that fear of either being deported or having that family be split up.”

Zavala Chavez calls himself a guide. Whether it’s helping people get connected to other resources like the LACC food pantry or providing Spanish translation at court proceedings, he does what he can to meet the needs of the victims. The most common types of crimes he sees are assaults, robberies, and domestic violence, with around two to four people coming in every day. 

Through word of mouth, people have been told not to call the police because then immigration authorities will come after them. That is why Zavala Chavez says it’s important to emphasize the protection immigrant victims have from deportation. He said that people in the Wilmington area are pretty informed, but that there are families in Middletown that are uninformed and scared, which leaves crimes unreported. Every Wednesday, he goes to Middletown High School to remind people of their rights.

Also at LACC is Bethsaida Acosta, the domestic violence program coordinator, who hosts a peer group via Zoom called Mujeres Poderosas (Powerful Women) to create a space where women can share their experiences and receive resources. Within a year, she sees on average 120 people and has at most seen 140. She does not meet with anybody in person because people are afraid to go out. 

“The majority of them have problems with immigration status, and they feel that they don’t have rights (and) they cannot report anything,” Acosta said. “At that time, we have to let them know that ‘Yeah, you can report. You can do whatever you want to do. That is your decision.’ I cannot push them to call the police.” 

Though fear of the police can be a hindrance, Zavala Chavez says another one is the language barrier. He added that the police could use more Spanish-speaking officers, as there is a fear of calling and speaking to someone in a different language. He noted that it plays a big part in Spanish speakers being victimized. 

Many victim services units across the state help people, no matter their immigration status, get connected to resources. Jennifer McCann, supervisor of victim services at New Castle County Police Department, said that when an immigrant calls, she walks them through what reporting looks like. She does safety planning with victims, no matter if they officially report the crime or not. This includes turning off location services on their phone and finding short-term housing like a family member’s home. She emphasised that they don’t collaborate with ICE and they don’t ask for immigration status when someone reports a crime. 

“If they are fearful for their status, that should not be a factor,” McCann said. “We don’t care what your status is.” 

At Millsboro Police Department, Lieutenant David Moyer, who oversees victim services, said the department is working with La Esperanza and Delaware Community Legal Aid Society on a case concerning undocumented victims of crimes who are seeking protection. He could not discuss the case further because it is ongoing.

The Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit would not comment. 

Even though Calvachi-Mateyko believes that Senate Bill 17 still needs more work, such as clearer protections for immigrant victims of human trafficking, she does believe it can be a small step towards meaningful change. 

“This is just one of many steps that need to be taken to further protect our immigrant community,” she said. “Protecting victims of crime from the hands of immigration authorities is vital.”