Feature
Lawyers Help Abuse Victims Through U-Visa Program By Rebecca E. Neely In the three years since the inception of the U-visa program, which gives temporary legal status to illegal aliens who are also abuse victims, who help police investigate crimes, over 30,000 applications have been filed, and over 25,000 have been approved, according to the September 26th latimes.com article, “U-visas gaining momentum”.
The program has been life changing for women like Norma. For years, the mother of five has suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of her husband. An illegal alien, she’d never contacted the police until her ten and eleven year old daughters told her he’d sexually abused them. At the time, she was undergoing proceedings to be deported.
Since 2010, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. George Miller (D-Martinez) and Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) have supported the Power Act. The legislation would expand the groups covered by U-visas to victims of labor exploitation, as well as increase the number of said visas to 30,000 per year. However, it’s yet to gain much support in Congress.
Lawyers with Legal Aid Foundation Los Angeles (LAFLA) assisted her with getting “her deportation deferred until the U-visa program” went into effect, in 2008. During “that time, Norma’s husband was sentenced to six years in prison,” and Norma and her children were able to remain in the country on a long term basis.
Groups supporting immigration restriction, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies, feel visas for crime victims should be limited to people with extreme cases.
Norma was quoted as saying in the latimes.com article: “I felt —not scared, mostly I just felt angry at myself for hiding so many things, for letting it get to that point.” Today, Norma is receiving an education to become a dental technician. In May, she became a legal permanent resident and hopes to become a citizen as soon as she is eligible. Following “a visit to Los Angeles this month to promote the program, immigration officials announced…all 10,000 available U-visas had been issued for the fiscal year, which” ended September 30th, per the latimes.com article. Betty Song, an attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying in the latimes. com article: “We can see the volume already. At some point it’s going to be an issue. I don’t know what purpose the cap serves, because if people are eligible, they are eligible.”
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Bob Dane, a FAIR spokesman was quoted as saying in the latimes.com article: “The historic pattern with these special interest visa set-asides is that once they become popular and the use expands to the limits set by Congress, then you get a backlog. Then that pressure begins to be applied to Congress to deal with the backlog by increasing the ceiling.” “For 80 years, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) has been providing civil legal services to poor and low-income people in Los Angeles County,” according to information from lafla.org. Each year, the organization provides over 12,000 individuals and families with legal services. In addition, over 35,000 litigants are assisted via LAFLA’s four Self Help Legal Access Centers. Through referrals, workshops and community outreach activities, LAFLA is able to help an additional 20,000 people, according to additional information at the organization’s website.
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