The U Visa: Protecting Victims of Crime
*UPDATE: Tahirih has just won its first victories in securing full U visa approvals for clients after nine years of government delay!
The article below was originally published before any U visas had been approved for Tahirih clients. Before now, victims of crime had only been granted Interim Relief or Deferred Action, which required yearly renewals and left victims without permanent legal status.
Kristina* was the victim of rape when she was only twelve years old. Her stepfather forced her to engage in sexual relations against her will and threatened that if she told anyone what he was doing, he would leave the family and they would all starve. Kristina’s mother, Lydia, caught him fondling her daughter in the family’s living room one day and she immediately called the police. Both Kristina and Lydia cooperated fully with the investigation and, as a result, the stepfather was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Melody* was brutally beaten by her brother-in-law, who also attempted to rape her. She escaped by jumping through a window and was found by a neighbor who helped her call the police. Melody was immediately hospitalized. She pressed charges against her brother-in-law and he was found guilty of attempted rape and malicious wounding. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Kristina and Melody—and many other women and girls in the United States who are victims of crimes like domestic violence, rape, incest, and sexual assault—are eligible for a specific type of immigration relief, called the U visa, available to victims of violent crimes.
Tahirih was the first organization in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to apply for U visa interim relief.
The U visa was created as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000. Congress created the U visa as a mechanism to aid law enforcement, by providing a path to legal status for non-citizen victims of crime who assist law enforcement in investigating or prosecuting the perpetrator of the crime.
Although the U visa was created by Congress in 2000, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was required to issue implementing regulations before a U visa could be approved and issued. These regulations were not issued until September 17, 2007, after nearly seven years of waiting, lobbying, and advocacy. Prior to the release of regulations, victims of crime like Kristina and Melody, who cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of their perpetrators, could only be granted Interim Relief, or Deferred Action, a status which required yearly renewals and left victims without permanent legal status.
Since the inception of the U visa, Tahirih has pioneered its use and was, in fact, the first organization in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to apply for U visa interim relief. To further its work in protecting this underserved and uniquely vulnerable population of victims, Tahirih, with support from the prestigious Equal Justice Works Fellowship program and Arnold & Porter LLP, brought on a two-year fellow in 2007—Natalie Nanasi—to serve as a staff attorney and conduct targeted advocacy and outreach.
Natalie represents clients that are eligible for U visa protections and works with other organizations and advocates to ensure that the U visa is appropriately utilized and implemented. She currently represents over 50 U visa clients—women and girls who are victims of crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault, statutory rape, attempted murder, and child sex abuse. She also conducts outreach to various members of the community to provide information and education about the benefits of the U visa.
Outreach Efforts
As part of the Equal Justice Works Fellowship, Tahirih has conducted numerous trainings in the community to educate victims and professionals working with immigrant victims of crime on the protections available. The following are some of the people we have reached out to through this effort:
- Participants in a domestic violence support group in Woodbridge, Virginia (September 20, 2007)
- A coalition of victim/witness advocates and other social services providers from the Virginia Counties of Prince Edward, Mecklenberg, Charlotte, Halifax, and Lunenburg (February 15, 2008)
- Members of a community advocacy organization – including law enforcement, victim/witness advocates, shelter employees, and medical personnel – in Winchester, Virginia (February 19, 2008)
- Law enforcement officers with the Northern Virginia Gang Taskforce (April 2, 2008)
- Volunteer attorneys, as part of the DC Bar Pro Bono Program (February 8, 2008 and February 13, 2009)
Natalie’s project also includes a public policy component. Although Tahirih applauded the release of the U visa regulations and was heartened by many of its provisions that provide necessary protections to immigrant victims of crime, the rules do contain several troubling provisions as well. Chief among them is the limitation placed on who is permitted to attest to a victim’s helpfulness; only the head of a law enforcement agency or an individual “specifically designated” by the head of that agency may sign the certification form. This restriction places a substantial burden on victims, as they are required to navigate the bureaucracies of police departments and prosecutors’ offices to ensure that the agencies designate a certifier.
In November 2007, Tahirih, with the help of pro bono attorneys at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, submitted comments to address the “designated certifier” issue, as well as other areas of concern in the new regulations. Over a year after the issuance of the U visa regulations, DHS issued the U visa adjustment regulations, which govern the process by which U visa holders apply for permanent residency status. In February 2009 Tahirih submitted comments to DHS on both the U visa and the U visa adjustment regulations, in which we addressed areas of continued concern and recommended necessary changes.
*Names changed to protect privacy.
