Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar is among a group of local law enforcement leaders who say the Trump administration’s deportation efforts are undermining community safety by targeting immigrants applying for the U-visa.
The U-visa is approved in limited quantities to immigrant victims of certain crimes who agree to work with law enforcement. If approved, it provides a path to a green card and a work permit.
But, as Tucson immigration attorney Mo Goldman notes, it’s a years-long process that’s plagued by backlogs at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, where petitions are assessed.
Filing the petition could also alert the Department of Homeland Security to a person’s potentially undocumented immigration status, leaving them vulnerable to deportation.
“Right now, there’s really no way to fight that scenario because the ICE attorneys are under pretty strict orders to fight these cases and deport people,” Goldman said.
Goldman says applicants have typically not been targeted for deportation as they wait out the process, and former administrations have also directed immigration judges to put a hold on removal proceedings while the person works with law enforcement and applies for the visa.
But, he says, attorneys are now seeing applicants put into removal proceedings more often. He still works with clients applying for the visa, and he says he warns them about the risks.
“There’s always the warning that filing it is not going to give any immediate benefit and probably no benefit for quite some time, and that they are putting their information out there for public consumption with the government,” he said.
In a press release about recent reports of U-visa applicants facing deportation, Kasmar says the visa plays a crucial role in fostering community trust and encourages victims to come forward.
"For us in the field, U-visas play a key role in fostering trust within immigrant communities, since they represent an opportunity to protect victims of crime who lack legal status," said Kasmar, who serves as co-chair of the task force. "When immigrants feel safe in reporting crimes, it strengthens the community's safety."
Kasmar was one of a handful of law enforcement leaders from the Leaders of the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force who weighed in on the issue.
Both he and former Tucson Police Department head and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus have been part of the group, which includes more than 150 law enforcement officers in more than 30 states.
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