As ICE raids shatter the security of communities across America, an even deadlier threat is lurking in the shadows: the increasing danger facing immigrant victims of domestic violence.
The Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown is actively tearing apart families and dismantling the fabric of American’s diverse culture. But the scope of the damage reaches far beyond arrests and deportations. In the face of unyielding oppression, immigrants are being forced into hiding and silence, putting domestic violence shelters, healthcare facilities and even schools out of reach and, therefore, creating a deadly void in lifesaving resources.
The current administration’s attacks deliver a detrimental blow to immigrants experiencing intimate partner violence. The National Organization for Women (NOW) reports that immigrant and undocumented women are at a heightened risk of experiencing intimate partner violence, with rates nearly three times the national average. Now, ICE’s reign of terror is not only decimating families and propagating xenophobia; it’s tearing down the very social structures that once made America function, the last lines of defense in volatile domestic situations.
According to NOW, immigrant victims of domestic violence are less likely to seek government resources due to both difficulty navigating a daunting legal system and fear of potential ramifications. Reporting abuse puts victims in the perilous situation of risking arrest or deportation. Amid a rampant increase in arrests and deportations across the nation, it’s no surprise that victims are left suffering in silence, often with deadly consequences.
In September 2025, Ana Maria Mena Membreno was killed by her partner in Fairfax, Virginia. Her bereaved loved ones reported that Ana had been afraid to seek help from domestic violence services due to her immigration status. Ana’s death is part of a growing and disturbing pattern, with glaring similarities to another high-profile crime that occurred in Northern Virginia just one year earlier.
In July 2024, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a mother, nurse, and Nepali immigrant, vanished from her home in Manassas Park, Virginia. Although her coworkers sounded the alarm immediately after her uncharacteristic absence from work, her husband, Naresh Bhatt, waited nearly a week before reporting her missing.
The community rallied in support of Mamta, organizing searches near the home she shared with Naresh and across the DC suburbs. Mamta’s absence was palpable as she remained missing on her beloved daughter’s first birthday. Just one month after she was last seen alive, on August 22, Naresh was arrested and charged with her disappearance; the charges were later upgraded to first-degree murder.
Mamta’s plight highlights the intersection of domestic violence and immigration. She immigrated to the United States in 2021 and was in the process of obtaining citizenship, but she disappeared before her final appointment with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Following her disappearance, Mamta’s loved ones detailed prior instances of abuse she experienced at the hands of Naresh, outlining a pattern of escalation that is all too common.
While Mamta and Ana’s stories left the community shaken, they are sadly not unique. It is estimated that one in five homicides are the result of domestic violence. Women are overwhelmingly more likely than men to become victims of stalking, physical abuse, sexual violence, and domestic partner homicide.
The prenatal, pregnancy, and postpartum stages are especially dangerous for victims of intimate partner violence. The 2022 Dobbs decision dramatically reduced reproductive freedoms across the United States, compounding the vulnerability of women already in volatile situations. With growing restrictions on access to reproductive healthcare and abortion, those trapped in the cycle of abuse face the dire threat of being forced into an increasingly unsafe position.
ICE’s abuses are becoming more blatant by the day. Agents have entered private residences, deported citizens, and shot protesters in broad daylight. But their actions also have a more subtle ripple effect. Vulnerable communities have become even more vulnerable, leaving many afraid to leave homes that present dangers of their own.
Mamta and Ana’s alleged murderers assumed they were disposable, both literally and figuratively, that they could be discarded without anybody caring. They were egregiously wrong. Yet, this viewpoint reflects the message current policies send about women, especially immigrant women. Their rights can be stripped away, their reproductive freedoms stifled, their legal status allowing them to be silently disappeared.
As we consider Mamta and Ana’s legacies, we must demand more protections for victims of abuse, regardless of gender or nationality. Their deaths serve as painful reminders of the dangers that continue to face women. The current political climate places immigrant victims of domestic violence at an unprecedented risk, and without widespread change, stories like these will unfortunately become more common.