"Safe reporting" of crime for victims and witnesses with irregular migration status in the USA and Europe

August 2018 – October 2019
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Overview

This research and knowledge-exchange project explores law, policy, and practices regarding the reporting of crime by irregular migrants in the USA and four European countries (Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands). It assesses the legal and political "replicability" of relevant US experiences in European contexts.

The project focuses on national and local "firewall" measures that enable "safe reporting" by victims or witnesses with irregular migration status (i.e., measures that allow irregular migrants to report crime without exposing themselves to immigration enforcement).

The project ultimately aims to:

  • Provide authoritative evidence and analysis on policies and best practices that enable and encourage “safe reporting” in Europe and the USA.
  • Assess the legal and political replicability of firewall practices and policies across different countries. Given the significant differences in the constitutional settings of the countries involved, the project will assess the legal replicability of US experiences in European contexts.
  • Facilitate knowledge exchange between European and US policymakers and foster debate on the opportunity to replicate best practices across different national and local settings.

The safe reporting project produced five country reports outlining the legal and policy frameworks surrounding "safe reporting" in Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the USA. The report for the USA will also explore the legal and political conditions that enabled the adoption of "sanctuary policies" in New York and San Francisco.

  • Belgium: country report
    Van Den Durpel, A. (2019) Safe reporting of crime for migrants with irregular status in Belgium, COMPAS: Oxford
  • Italy: country report
    Taverriti, S. B. (2019) Safe reporting of crime for victims and witnesses with irregular migration status in Italy, COMPAS: Oxford
  • The Netherlands: country report
    Timmerman, R., Leerkes, A., & Staring, R. (2019) Safe reporting of crime for migrants with irregular status in the Netherlands, COMPAS: Oxford
  • Spain: country report
    González Beilfuss, M. (2019) Safe reporting of crime for migrants with irregular status in Spain, COMPAS: Oxford
  • United States: country report
    Delvino, N. (2019) Safe reporting of crime for victims and witnesses with irregular migration status in the United States, COMPAS: Oxford

The reports were presented at a round table (Brussels, October 2019) where US and European stakeholders, including representatives of national governments, EU institutions, local authorities, law enforcement, academia and civil society, discussed challenges related to “safe reporting”, any best practices identified in the reports, and their potential for replication.

For more information on the ‘safe reporting’ projects, please get in touch with globalexchange@compas.ox.ac.uk

Principal Investigator

Nicola Delvino

Researchers

Nathan Grassi (Admin)

Funding

Open Society Foundations