Cross-posted from my blog, MotherTalkers.com.

The grave consequences of not protecting the human and civil rights of immigrants, including those without papers, has weighed heavily on my mind lately. Our organization, MomsRising, is part of a delegation of women in Georgia, shedding light on an Arizona SB1070 copycat law.

I’ve also seen a lot of news stories lately on the fallout of such laws: parent-child separation, workplace and home raids, racial profiling, economic consequences due to the stigma such laws bring to a state, and child and spousal abuse — as victims are afraid to call the police. This issue has been especially bad for the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants as this Los Angeles Times story shows:

An undocumented wife of five U.S.-born children was reluctant to report emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, until he sexually abused her children. So many thoughts ran through my mind when I read that. For those who feel that this woman and her children should be “punished” for their mother not having papers, do they really think this is okay to happen anywhere, including Mexico? Aren’t we supposed to be better than this?

My other thought was this issue should be of concern for anyone who is for women’s rights in the world and against domestic violence. Giving victims, no matter their immigrant status, the safety to step forward in a domestic violence situation is the least we should provide from a human rights standpoint.

In related news, an Ohio town is coming together to support a high school basketball star who has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). For Bernard’s story, click here.