Visa protects immigrants, victims who help convict criminals

thetimesnews.com
Michael D. Abernethy / Times-News
December 29, 2011 4:32 PM

A relatively new type of U.S. visa, available to immigrants who are victims of crime, is becoming more well known in Alamance County.

Members of Burlington police, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble’s office and the Alamance County District Attorney’s office say they are familiar with the visas, which require law enforcement certification, though they receive relatively few requests for them.

The U Nonimmigrant Status visa began in 2000, allowing foreign nationals, including illegal immigrants, who are victims of certain crimes to apply for temporary residency for up to four years. Their dependents and family members can also qualify for temporary residency in the process. Crimes covered by the visa include murder, rape and sex offenses, kidnapping, human trafficking, blackmail and other related, severe crimes that cause substantial physical and mental suffering.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security, issues visas and permits for non-citizens. USCIS issued 10,000 U visas in 2010 and 2011, the maximum allowed within a calendar year.

Though data tracking local and statewide U visa permits issued locally and statewide wasn’t available through USCIS, offices here have become familiar with them.

Assistant Burlington Police Chief Chris Verdeck said the department certified 15 U visas in 2011.

Janine Osborne, district representative for Coble’s Graham office, is working on two U visa applications. Both are for women who were allegedly raped.

Earlier this month, the U visa permit process was part of a case heard in Alamance County Superior Court, in which a husband entered a technical guilty plea to sexual battery and felonious restraint of his wife. Both were in the country illegally. The man’s defense attorney, David Remington, said the woman brought the charges against her husband to obtain a U visa.

Remington said the visas aren’t widely known about among the general populous but are common knowledge among immigrants. Assistant District Attorney Lori Wickline said at the time that she’s been asked to certify several U visa applications but that woman never submitted an application to her office.

The application process requires that law enforcement, judges or district attorneys vouch for victims, certifying the immigrants or their families were substantially affected by the crime, have knowledge of the crime and were cooperative during investigations and judicial proceedings. No federal, state or local officials are obligated to certify U visa applications, according to the USCIS web site. Those officials can also revoke their certification at any time during the permit process.

Even with certification, USCIS grants U visas based on each individual case.

Ana Santiago, USCIS spokeswoman, said U visas are an important tool for law enforcement and victims to root out crime in communities. The visas are intended to offer security to victims who might not otherwise report crimes for fear of deportation.

“The U visa allows victims to remain in the United States and assist law enforcement authorities in the investigation of or prosecution of the criminal activity,” Santiago said.

Verdeck believes the U visa keeps serious crimes from going unreported.

“Whether they are here legally or not, these are things we need to know about. They are still victims of crime. And these criminals aren’t just targeting immigrants. They are targeting all of us,” Verdeck said.

Victims who come forward and cooperate with investigators with Burlington police typically have their U visas certified, he said. Of 17 U visa certification requests the department received in 2011, 15 were certified. In the two cases that weren’t certified by Burlington police, one alleged victim was found to have filed a false police report and the other didn’t cooperate with investigators.

Coble’s office works as a conduit between the government and constituents in the visa application process, primarily with legal residents hoping to get spouses, children and other family members into the U.S., Osborne said. She thinks the U visa is important in combating human trafficking and other serious crimes that might go unreported without victim protection.

The visas are temporary but nonimmigrants can apply for green cards once they’ve obtained U visas, Osborne said.

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