FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sandra Benavente
Advocacy Manager
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. (October 30, 2025) – Today, Ayuda called on D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto to hold a public hearing on the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) cooperation with federal authorities. As Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, Councilmember Pinto has a duty to investigate the ongoing collaboration between MPD and Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies as they brutally and unlawfully detain our immigrant and Black and Brown neighbors.
“When MPD travels with, assists, or shares information with ICE or other federal agencies, it sends a very clear message to immigrant survivors across the District: ‘Don’t look to us for help,’” said Sandra Benavente, Ayuda’s Advocacy Manager. “This is not justice. This is not safety. This is fear institutionalized.”
Today’s announcement comes on the heels of a joint public hearing request made Wednesday by Free DC and over 20 community organizations including Ayuda. In less than 24 hours, over 400 D.C. residents have sent their own letter to echo this request.
For immigrant families, the continued collaboration between MPD and federal agencies is not an abstract policy issue, it is a matter of life and death. Every day, Ayuda serves survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, people who have fled unimaginable harm in search of safety and justice. Yet instead of finding protection, many now live in fear that a single call for help could lead to detention, deportation, or separation from their children.
Ayuda previously outlined these concerns in a joint letter to D.C. Mayor Bowser and MPD Chief Pam Smith, sent on September 18 from 15 nonprofits that serve immigrant survivors. More than a month later, Ayuda and co-signatories have received no response from either party.
A public hearing is critical to provide clarity and accountability on MPD’s coordination with federal immigration agencies and to ensure protection of civil liberties and compliance with the Sanctuary Values Amendment. Without it, Black and Brown Washingtonians continue to be unjustly targeted, immigrant survivors remain too afraid to seek help, and public safety in our city suffers.
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About Ayuda:
Ayuda provides direct legal, social, and language access services to low-income immigrants in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Since 1973, Ayuda has served more than 150,000 immigrants throughout the region. Ayuda is the only nonprofit service provider in the area that provides a wide range of immigration and family law assistance, social services, and language access support for all immigrants – including women, men, and children – from anywhere in the world. Visit www.ayuda.com to learn more.
