U visa certification patterns and coverage

Abstract

Although research has traditionally examined the role of law enforcement agencies in policing immigrants as potential perpetrators of crime and their relationship to federal immigration law enforcement, researchers have focused less on how police respond to immigrant victims of crime and help them secure legal benefits. This paper examines a local case of the U visa program, a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Eligible immigrants, including unauthorized immigrants, who are crime victims can apply for a U visa if they report and assist in the investigation of a qualifying crime. A key feature of the U visa program is the mandatory involvement of a certifying agency, most commonly law enforcement. Using U visa certification data across 5 years from a local police department and background conversations regarding the certification process, we provide one of the first examinations of U visa certification at the agency level. We also use certification request data, local crime rates, and estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population at the Census tract level to produce an exploratory U visa coverage rate.