BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana
Attorney General Jeff Landry is praising the Department of Homeland Security
for creating the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office.
“For too long – victims of illegal immigrant crime have
been forgotten and ignored,” said General Landry. “The VOICE Office creation
will now ensure these victims and their families have a government resource to
assist them with their cases.”
VOICE aims to use a victim-centered approach to
acknowledge and support immigration crime victims and their families, promote
awareness of rights and services available to immigration crime victims, build
collaborative partnerships with community stakeholders assisting immigration
crime victims, and provide quarterly reports studying the effects of the
victimization by criminal aliens present in the United States.
“Louisiana citizens have been killed, raped, and
sexually exploited by illegal immigrants,” added General Landry. “While I will
always remain frustrated by these crimes because the perpetrators should never
have been here, I am grateful for the assistance VOICE will be able to provide
the victims and their families.”
Funded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement resources
– the VOICE Office will provide automated custody status information,
additional criminal or immigration history, local contacts to help with unique
victims’ requests, and access to social service professionals available to
refer victims to local service providers. VOICE services are expected to be
expanded in the future to meet the needs of victims and their families.
“My office works tirelessly to protect our citizens from
crime, including illegal immigration,” said General Landry. “It is great to
have federal partners also supporting victims and witnesses of crimes committed
by criminal aliens.”
VOICE’s toll-free hotline, staffed with operators to
triage calls, has been set-up to ensure victims receive the support they need.
The number is 1-855-48-VOICE. More information may be found online atwww.ice.gov/voice.
