Law & Order: SVU Season 18 Episode 20 revolves around a murder and hate crime in which the main witness to the crime is hindered by his immigration status.

When a young Muslim woman is brutally raped and murdered, it appears to be part of a robbery gone wrong, until SVU finds an anti-Muslim message written in blood on the wall. SVU's investigation leads to Yousef Massad, a young man who came to the US without proper documentation because he was being persecuted due to his sexual orientation.

Yousef and his family are reluctant to cooperate in the investigation out of fear that he will be deported back to Syria if he gets involved with the police. Benson promises that no such thing will happen and that New York is a sanctuary city. However, after Yousef IDs one of the murder suspects, ICE raids an immigration law protest and arrests Yousef for not having proper documentation on him. SVU gets caught up in red tape and is not able to stop him from being deported.

SInce Yousef was the only witness, the case becomes impossible to prosecute and Barba has to drop charges against the suspect, but this only leads to a flare-up of tensions between the Muslim and Hispanic communities in the area.

To find out what happens, watch SVU Season 18 Episode 20 online.