Law enforcement may not be helping immigrant crime victims with visas

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Podcasts Take Two

Apr 10, 2017

Listen • 4:43

Law enforcement may not be helping immigrant crime victims with visas

It's not clear whether a majority of law enforcement agencies in California are helping victims with their applications for U visas, according to the Desert Sun newspaper.

MIAMI - JULY 2: MIAMI - JULY 2: U.S. Immigration inspectors check passports July 2, 2002 at Miami International Airport in Miami, Forida. Inspectors are using the new multi-agency DataShare database which inspectors use to view not only biographic information but also pictures of visa holders. At more than 300 ports of entry across the U.S. the new system is being used for visa holders who receive their documents at consular posts around the world. While information on immigrant visas has been available through DataShare since 1995, information on temporary visitors, or non-immigrants, has been widely available on DataShare only since January of this year. The addition of non-immigrant information to the DataShare system was put on a fast-track immediately following the September terrorist attacks. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

It's not clear whether a majority of law enforcement agencies in California are helping victims with their applications for U visas, according to the Desert Sun newspaper.

If you've come here from another country and you're a victim of a crime, the government wants you to cooperate and help find the perpetrator.

That's where a U visa comes in.

It allows someone to stay in the country as long as they work with police officers to bring about justice. It's also a pathway to citizenship.

But there's a problem.

According to the Desert Sun newspaper, it's not clear whether a majority of law enforcement agencies in California are helping victims with their visa applications.

Michelle Carey, supervising attorney for the LA Center for Law and Justice, joined Take Two to explain what's at stake for both crime and the affected immigrants.