CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local law enforcement officer told Channel 9 he’s noticed serious problems with a type of visa designed to help immigrants who are the victims of serious crimes.
Eyewitness News reported on U visas before. They allow immigrants to stay in the U.S. for up to four years. Often the victims help officers build their case and testify in court.
Chief Deputy David Ramsey, with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, spends hours every month sorting through dozens of U visa cases.
It’s a visa that’s good for four years and in some cases has the power to halt deportation, but Ramsey approves only 15-20 percent of them.
“In certain cases, we've seen outright fraud,” Ramsey said.
There’s another serious issue he said he’s seeing more frequently.
“To have someone claiming they're a victim and they need to stay here through a U visa 15-20 years after the fact, it just seems to be a problem,” he said.
Ramsey uses a form to certify that immigrants have been helpful or are likely to be helpful in the investigation and prosecution of the crime. He said that’s difficult to do when the crime is nearly a decade old.
"It's almost impossible to verify whether they are legitimately the victim of a crime or whether they cooperated,” he said. “It looks to me like that should have been done a long time ago, if that was the case, and there may be some attempts to get us to certify something that's not accurate."
Ramsey said some of the cases that end up on his desk come from the Law Offices of Stefan Latorre.
Attorney Katie Doran works there. She said the law allows people to apply for a U visa regardless of how long ago the crime occurred.
“Just because the crime happened 10, 20, 30 years ago, it does not mean the victim is no longer eligible for a U visa, because there is no time limit on a U visa," she said.
Ramsey, however, is calling for a change in the law. He said the initial U visa application should be submitted within three years of the offense, because he said most criminal cases are adjudicated within three years. That's a change immigration attorney Hannah Little said could hurt thousands of people.
“Putting a limit on the time could be unduly restrictive,” Ramsey said. “There were victims in 2000 that could have qualified for the law, but they may not have known about the law."
Experts said about 10,000 U visas are granted every year.
- Fraud, squatting frequently linked to 'Moorish' religion followers
- Action 9 confronts businessman accused of taking customer's money, again
- Local children being targeted as gang recruits
- Rae Carruth's son turns 16, shares message against violence with grandmother
- 9 investigates illegal drugs being shipped through mail
- 9 Investigates: Keyless vehicles blamed for deaths
- 9 Investigates: Project L.I.F.T.'s influence on test scores, grades
- Number of stolen guns on the rise in Charlotte, police say
- Wildlife officers cracking down on illegal hunting near neighborhoods
- Popular radio host discusses growing up with domestic violence
- Contaminants found in samples taken from Badin Lake
- Some families in public housing earn more than maximum allowed
- Ways information can be gathered on what's happening in cars
- Fort Mill residents upset over proposed water rate hike
- Safety experts say newer construction burns hotter, faster than old
- Seniors lose millions over 'sweetheart' scams
- 9 Investigates wrong-way crashes on rise in North Carolina
- NCDOT workers viewed porn, played games at work, records show
- Groups work to tighten NC exotic animal ownership laws
- 9 Investigates: Dangerous window blinds on store shelves
WSOC
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
