Ice Raids and Sex Work

Where's the media coverage?

We’re living in incredibly bleak times—bleaker, even, than before, if that’s possible. And yet, amid the growing discourse around ICE raids and immigration enforcement, one group continues to be left out of the conversation: sex workers.

Sex workers—especially women of color—have long been targeted by law enforcement. This is nothing new. But under the current administration, the danger for immigrants involved in sex work has escalated dramatically. While many people are rightly outraged by ICE agents detaining individuals with no prior criminal record and denying them due process, it’s crucial that we include sex workers in these discussions.

There is often compassion—particularly among white liberals—for immigrants who fit the narrative of the “good” or “perfect” immigrant: those who work hard, support their families, and have never broken the law. But what about those who don’t fit that mold? What about the mothers, the women working in clubs, studios, parlors, hotels, or apartments—those whose work is stigmatized and excluded from that “respectable” immigrant narrative?

For many newly arrived immigrants, especially those without documentation or access to legal work visas, options are severely limited. Besides selling drugs or doing sex work, there are few paths available to generate income. Sure, there are jobs in construction, food service, or child care—but even when those jobs offer a “living wage,” that wage is often anything but livable, especially for those supporting families here and back home.

Undocumented people are frequently forced to accept under-the-table work that pays well below the legal minimum. In this context, sex work can become a viable—sometimes the only—alternative. It offers flexibility, immediate income, and in some cases, autonomy that traditional jobs don’t. Refugees and undocumented immigrants often can’t afford to wait through the long, expensive process of legal employment. For them, sex work is often the only resort.

And yet, sex workers are disproportionately targeted in raids and law enforcement actions. The lack of empathy—and media coverage—is infuriating. What happens when strip clubs, massage parlors, or private studios are raided? These stories rarely make the news. They don’t spark public outrage. The stigma surrounding sex work robs these workers of compassion and visibility.

Worse still, when someone is detained from one of these venues, we have to ask: what does detention look like for a known or presumed sex worker? These egregious human bounty hunters often have physical power and institutional backing that opens the door to abuse. The stakes are higher for sex workers in every possible way.

Sex workers—many of whom are immigrants, people of color, and mothers—deserve safety, dignity, and recognition. They must be included in our fight against unjust detentions and the brutal immigration enforcement systems that continue to tear communities apart.

For example, the Dance Resource- a popular instagram page that advocates for the safety of dancers reposted the following dm on their instagram:

“Brownsville, TX was visited by ICE/HSI because, “they found a legal loophole to check for citizenship without a warrant. They as well as many FBI followed along TABC to “make sure everyone was 21” but when they spoke to us they said they were looking for a girl with a warrant and forced us to give them our ids. It was obvious it was about citizenship. They had a van out front waiting for people who didn’t have a work visa.”

This is just one example I’ve seen of people in the sex work industry being raided by ICE, but I’ve seen very little else reported. The resources out there—like the ones for dancers—are often aimed at people within the industry, not the general public. So where is the mainstream media coverage?

There’s a studio near me that has been routinely raided—even before the current wave of violent, mass immigration enforcement. It makes me nauseous to think about how much greater the threat is now. The right continues to push the narrative that immigrants are stealing, endangering “real Americans,” and are inherently “undesirable.” The current administration has made that very clear.

The intersection of immigration and sex work intensifies this rhetoric, because it combines two groups the right works aggressively to criminalize and punish. And while some liberals advocate for the protection of immigrants, it’s rare to see that same support extended to sex workers.

So this is just a PSA: when we talk and think about ICE raids and immigrant detainment, we need to remember and include sex workers—people who are less likely to receive media attention or public empathy, but who are equally deserving of both. I want to remind myself and others to keep them in mind. They shouldn’t be forgotten.

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