“Safe reporting” of crime for victims and witnesses with irregular migration status in the USA and Europe August 2018 – October 2019

Overview

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

The project focuses on national and local “firewall” measures allowing “safe reporting” for victims or witnesses with irregular migration status (i.e. measures enabling 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 enabling and encouraging “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 a debate over the opportunity of replicating 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 allowed the adoption of “sanctuary policies” in the cities of 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 of replication.

For more information on the ‘safe reporting’ projects, please contact Senior Researcher Nicola Delvino (nicola.delvino@compas.ox.ac.uk).

Principal Investigator

Nicola Delvino

Researchers

Nathan Grassi (Admin)

Funder

Open Society Foundations

Professionals' Advisory Group

Arjen Leerkes, Full Professor of Migration, Securitization and Social Cohesion at UNU-MERIT/ Maastricht University and an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Erasmus University Rotterdam

Markus Gonzalez Beilfuss, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Barcelona

Richard Staring, Professor of Criminology at the School of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam

Sara Bianca Taverriti, PhD, University of Milan

Ruben Timmerman, PhD candidate, Criminology, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Anja Van den Durpel, PhD candidate, University of Ghent

News & Media

Free in, free out: Dutch policy marks an important first step toward firewall protection for irregular migrants in Europe
Blog | Ruben I. Timmerman

New EU strategy acknowledges need for ‘safe reporting’ measures for all victims regardless of status
Blog | Nicola Delvino

When a crime victim is an irregular migrant: “safe reporting of crime” or “leap of faith”?
Blog | Nicola Delvino

Countries

Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, United States

Regions

Europe

Outputs

Latino Migrant Victims of Crime: Safe Reporting for Victims With Irregular Status in the United States and Spain
Journal Article (Special Issue) | Nicola Delvino & Markus González Beilfuss | 2021

Safe reporting of crime: Research Highlights and Learnings for the EU Victims Strategy
Report | Nicola Delvino | 2020

‘Free In, Free Out’: Exploring Dutch Firewall Protections for Irregular Migrant Victims of Crime
Journal Article | Ruben I. Timmerman, Arjen Leerkes, Richard Staring & Nicola Delvino | 2020

 

These five “country reports” outline the legal and policy frameworks surrounding “safe reporting” in Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the USA:

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