Vigilant Love’s #ServicesNotSurveillance values statement

We believe that collaboration between mental health service providers and the Department of Homeland Security puts our patients and clients at risk for unwarranted and unethical profiling as well as potential breaches of confidentiality. This can negatively impact the therapeutic alliance and a clinician’s overall ability to provide a safe environment for quality treatment. As mental health service providers, we understand the importance of centering the well being of our clients and protecting their spaces of vulnerability and healing. This is our statement of support for the #servicesnotsurveillancecampaign.

  • We recognize that counterterrorism programs under the Department of Homeland Security like Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) pathologize and criminalize Muslim, Black, and Brown communities.

  • We believe that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (OTVTP), and all other law enforcement agencies are co-opting mental health services through their expansion of the terror-industrial complex and community policing initiatives.


  • We believe we must do our due diligence, as mental health professionals, to continue understanding the risks and challenging these programs.

  • We reject any and all collaboration with law enforcement agencies, especially with the Department of Homeland Security, which manipulate mandated reporting and privacy disclosure laws and conflict with our professional association’s code of ethics.

  • We will not apply for any grant funding from the Department of Homeland Security or any of its affiliates that would perpetuate Islamophobic, xenophobic, and anti-Black racist policy.

  • We reject the theory that there is a "path to radicalization" and believe that CVE/TVTP indicators criminalize religious and political expression. We believe that mental health providers should not be trained to view religious affiliation, sociopolitical expression, racial/ethnic identification, or depressive and suicidal symptoms as a threat to national security.

  • We affirm the right for communities to challenge any repression they face. As service providers, we seek to provide client-centered care and advocacy that helps empower our clients in their healing process. 

  • We are committed to providing trauma informed care and services that protect and help communities racialized by the War on Terror to heal from the trauma caused by interpersonal, state, and systemic violence and degradation.

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