FAYETTEVILLE — It’s a dream for millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States: A visa that provides four years of legal residency and the possibility of permanent citizenship.
The only catch? You have to be a victim of a crime.
It’s called the U visa, and the Department of Homeland Security has been issuing them since 2007 in the hopes that the visas will encourage illegal immigrants to report crimes without fear of deportation.
“It’s a pretty hot topic and not really a popular one, but it affects so many practices that it eventually has an impact on what everyone does in this room,” said Fayetteville attorney Alene Bryson on Monday as she spoke before members of the Washington County Bar Association.
In fiscal 2010, the Department of Homeland Security gave out 10,000 U visas, the maximum allotted number, but few people have heard of the them outside the legal community, she said.
When Bryson asked the room of about 30 lawyers how many were familiar with U visas, only three raised their hands.
There is no statute of limitations on the crime claimed on a U visa, and it doesn’t matter if the crime involves domestic violence.
The main requirement is the victim must be willing to help law enforcement prosecute those involved in the crime. A police officer, district attorney or judge must sign off on the application before it is approved by a government employee, which takes about one year.
U visas can be revoked if those who possess them are involved with serious crimes, and they can be denied if the applicant was involved in torture, genocide or persecution in his or her home country.
“If we really want to help law enforcement in the battles against crime, this is one of the greatest tools we’ve ever been given,” Bryson said.
That government employees and not lawyers have to approve the application is a bit of a problem, as one of Bryson’s clients had a U visa denied despite being a victim of third-degree battery.
The U visa also provides legal protection to relatives. Bryson recalled that when a teenager in California came to her to report he had been molested by a neighbor several years ago, the U visa gave legal protection to him, his parents and seven siblings.
“All his family was going to benefit from this horrible thing he went through,” she said.
John Threet, prosecuting attorney for the Fourth Judicial District, said fewer than a dozen people have come to his office seeking U visas, and even fewer have been signed by attorneys in his office.
Prosecutors have declined to sign the applications for older or nonviolent cases, as well as cases that occurred outside of the area, but Threet said U visas can also be helpful in prosecutions.
“They can be useful in cases where you have somebody afraid because of their immigration status and in a situation that allows for a U visa like domestic violence or rape,” he said.