Salt Lake County prosecutors are concerned that local victims of crime who happen to be immigrants are increasingly scared to come forward.
For those who are undocumented or lack legal permanent status, it’s long been a fear — because victims think reporting a crime could lead to deportation, or because a perpetrator may threaten to call immigration authorities in retaliation.
But Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and Utah advocates feel it‘s gotten worse under President Donald Trump’s administration, with immigration enforcement officers again allowed in places like schools, courthouses and churches, which Gill said can create a chilling effect.
It‘s why his office in March arranged a training to educate prosecutors, law enforcement and community outreach nonprofits on what protections are available to undocumented victims.
Chelsea Montoya, the deputy clinical director of the Multicultural Counseling Center in West Jordan — a therapy practice that often works with immigrants — said she and other therapists have also noticed their clients are increasingly reluctant to report crimes, including domestic violence, under Trump’s administration.
“It‘s been a lot more notable,” she said. “There was just a loss of security and a loss of safety.”
Immigration protections for victims of crimes
The March training Gill’s office hosted was the second it offered on the subject since September. It touched on U visas and T visas, the latter of which are specifically for people who end up in the U.S. because they were victims of trafficking, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
To one training, they invited Leslye Orloff, an attorney who helped codify U and T visa options in the early 2000s. She’s now the director of the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project at the American University Washington College of Law.
Before such protections existed, Orloff said perpetrators were known to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if victims went to the police, cooperated with prosecutors or sought custody of their kids.
Domestic violence, child abuse, human trafficking and sexual assault offenses make up about 60-75% of the nation’s U visa cases, she said.
“Without immigration protections, essentially the perpetrator had a get-out-of jail card,” she said. “… There was no path to legal status for the victims who found the courage to come forward.”
Now, she said, prosecutors and law enforcement have tools. But the protections don’t apply to all.
Gill said a “bystander victim,” for instance, could sometimes gain legal status, but U visa qualifications specify that immigrants need to have “suffered substantial physical or mental abuse” and “have information about the criminal activity” to be eligible.
That‘s why Keith Chalmers, the communications manager for the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office, said prosecutors are concerned third-party witnesses might also stay silent.
“If people don’t trust the possibility of due process they will be less likely to come forward,” he said.
Why immigration attorneys are worried
Even with protection options in place, Utah immigration attorneys feel there are growing risks to seeking them out, especially to those who file but don’t realize they may not qualify.
When asked about the concern, U.S. Customs and Immigration Services said in a statement that the agency no longer holds categories of removable immigrants exempt from possible immigration enforcement.
A Feb. 28 memo from USCIS notes the agency will refer applicants to deportation proceedings if, “upon issuance of an unfavorable decision on a benefit request, the alien is not lawfully present in the United States.”
That’s why one Utah attorney, Marti Jones, said lawyers looking to file a U or T visa on a client‘s behalf should carefully contemplate the likelihood that their client will be considered eligible.
Jones has worked on victim-protection visas since the U visa process started, and under the Trump administration, she said, she’s also for the first time seen instances of ICE targeting people who apply for the protections.
ICE did not respond to questions about her assertion. But Jones advised filing attorneys to also weigh whether their client has an adequate case to stay in the U.S. if they end up in removal proceedings.
“Is anybody advised to file a U visa without competent counsel, considering all of those factors and making that call? Not on your life,” she said.
Immigration attorney Adam Crayk, a partner at Stowell Crayk, where Jones works, also warned of Utah-licensed immigration consultants — a title that doesn’t require a legal degree — who may offer to help people file applications but could do so inadequately.
Crayk said even if someone’s victim-protection visa application is not outright denied and still in various stages of being considered, immigrants can still be detained and end up in immigration court.
USCIS said it exercises discretion when deciding whether to grant employment authorization or temporarily defer deportation action against applicants who are initially found to meet victim-protection visa requirements but aren’t formally approved.
“The Trump administration’s policy reforms restore integrity in our immigration system and better protect the interests of Americans legitimate aliens seeking protections,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser told The Tribune in a statement.
