That is why Congress created the bipartisan\u00a0U-visa program<\/a>\u00a0in 2000.\u00a0Its purpose was to encourage immigrants to come forward and report crimes to law enforcement and to afford protection for those willing to cooperate.\u00a0Congress intended for the program to protect victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and other serious crimes.\u00a0Those granted a \u201cU-visa\u201d are later eligible for lawful permanent residence (a.k.a. a \u201cgreen card\u201d) and citizenship.<\/p>\n Since its creation, processing times of U-visa applications have skyrocketed, creating a backlog of over 160,000 cases and wait times of almost five years.\u00a0For years, advocates\u00a0have been sounding the alarm<\/a>\u00a0that these delays undermine the efficacy and purpose of the U-visa program. Rather than create solutions to address this crisis, these backlogs continue to grow and DHS has erected\u00a0additional barriers<\/a>\u00a0to securing relief.<\/p>\n At\u00a0Safe Horizon\u2019s Immigration Law Project<\/a>, we have been representing survivors in U-visa petitions since the U-visa became available in 2008.\u00a0U-visa and related applications form the majority of our caseload and we have successfully assisted hundreds of survivors in obtaining U-visa protections for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n \u00a0Read the original article here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Undocumented victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and exploitation in the work force face added vulnerability created by their immigration status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":{"id":9685,"alt_text":"Support children and families in domestic violence shelters","caption":"Peggy Duffy Memorial fund","description":"Support children and families in domestic violence shelters","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":512,"height":512,"file":"2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail.png","filesize":31715,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-300x300.png","width":300,"height":300,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":18595,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-300x300.png"},"thumbnail":{"file":"Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-150x150.png","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":8008,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail-150x150.png"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":9684,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Safe-Horizon-Flower-Logo_TransparentThumbnail.png"},"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[727,92,1417,340,344,328,193,103,105],"class_list":["post-9090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safe-horizon-in-the-news","tag-metoo","tag-domestic-violence","tag-ilp","tag-immigrant-rights","tag-immigrant-victims-of-crime","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-law-project","tag-rape","tag-sexual-assault","issue-domestic-violence","issue-rape-and-sexual-assault"],"acf":{"page_header_title":"","title_font_size":"42","page_header_excerpt":"","sub-headline_placement":false,"page_header_image":false,"custom_scripts":false,"show_author_bio":false,"original_url":"","related_initiative_title":"Do you need help?","related_initiative_link":"\/emergency","related_initiative_link_text":"Visit our Emergency Page with Current Services","featured_posts":[{"ID":874,"post_author":"4","post_date":"2016-06-13 15:02:47","post_date_gmt":"2016-06-13 15:02:47","post_content":"\n We help immigrant survivors of violence and abuse obtain status and protection, enabling them to live and work safely in the United States. Our work focuses on humanitarian-based relief created specifically for immigrant survivors, such as U-visas, VAWA self-petitions and asylum, as well as \u201cgreen card\u201d applications, naturalization, and removal defense. We work with people from around the world who have experienced trauma and offer services in any language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","post_title":"Immigration Law Project","post_excerpt":"Partnering with immigrant survivors of violence and abuse to secure status and protection.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"immigration-law-project","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-06-12 10:25:43","post_modified_gmt":"2025-06-12 14:25:43","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/safehorizon.harbordev.co\/?page_id=874","menu_order":0,"post_type":"page","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":8188,"post_author":"13","post_date":"2020-02-25 21:06:13","post_date_gmt":"2020-02-25 21:06:13","post_content":"Safety and protection no matter a survivor\u2019s status.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"FOIA\"](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/FOIA.png\")
\r\n\r\nFebruary 25, 2020<\/em>\r\n\r\nSafe Horizon and ASISTA have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for immigration policy data on the adjudication of U-visa petitions and adjustment of status (permanent residence) applications for those granted U visa status.\r\n\r\nU-visas were created by a bi-partisan congress in 2000 to protect immigrant victims of serious crimes who assist law enforcement in detecting, investigating and prosecuting crime. Beginning in 2018, Safe Horizon\u2019s Immigration Law Project<\/a> and ASISTA observed a shift in USCIS\u2019s adjudication of U-visa petitions and U-visa permanent residence applications for applicants with prior contact with law enforcement. Safe Horizon\u2019s Immigration Law Project and ASISTA observed an increase in USCIS requests and reliance on copies of applicants\u2019 arrest records even where charges were never filed, charges were dismissed, and\/or where the records were sealed. Prior to this time, USCIS generally accepted certified copies of a certificate of disposition.\r\n\r\nUSCIS has not issued any revised practice or policy information regarding this shift. As a result of the paucity of public information, many members of the public, including immigration lawyers, advocates for noncitizens, social workers, and law enforcement personnel, lack an understanding of the current practice and policy governing U-visa adjudications, the rationales that underlie it, and how to develop best practices for their work.\r\nSafe Horizon and ASISTA requested records relating to USCIS\u2019 policy on the adjudication of U-visa petitions and applications for adjustment of status based on an underlying U-visa from 2015 to present. Safe Horizon and ASISTA also requested USCIS policies from 2015 to present on the relevance of an applicant\u2019s prior contact with law enforcement in the adjudication of U-visa petitions and applications of adjustment of status based on an underlying U-visa.<\/h1>\r\n\u201cThis data is needed to provide a minimum level of transparency on USCIS\u2019 practices as it relates to a critical form of immigration relief for survivors of violence and abuse,\u201d said Evangeline M. Chan, Esq., Director of Safe Horizon\u2019s Immigration Law Project.\r\n\r\nLaura Flores Bachman, ASISTA Senior Legal Counsel said, \u201cAs leading advocates for immigrant survivors of violence, ASISTA has seen a significant shift in the way USCIS is adjudicating U visa petitions and U visa permanent residence applications. The documents we requested from USCIS will hopefully shed light on the way the agency has shifted its focus in these adjudications, creating more obstacles for immigrant survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking and other serious crimes.\"\r\n\r\nA copy of the FOIA request can be found\u00a0here.\u00a0<\/a>\r\n\r\nAttorneys from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP are representing Safe Horizon and ASISTA on a pro bono basis in this FOIA request.\r\n\r\nContact:\r\n\r\nEvangeline M. Chan, Esq., (718) 943-8634, Evangeline.chan@safehorizon.org<\/a>\r\nSejal Zota, (919) 698-5015, sejal@asistahelp.org<\/a>\r\nLaura Flores Bachman, (860) 758-0733, laura@asistahelp.org<\/a>\r\n\r\nSafe Horizon is a nonprofit organization established to provide assistance, advocacy, and support to victims of violence, including domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and other crimes. Safe Horizon\u2019s Immigration Law Project provides legal consultation and representation to low-income survivors of violence seeking immigration relief.\r\n\r\nASISTA is a nonprofit organization established to increase public understanding of immigration law and policy and advocate for the fair and just administration of federal immigration laws, particularly as they relate to immigrant survivors of violence. ASISTA consults with immigration lawyers, law students, accredited representatives, and other advocates to help directly protect the legal rights of noncitizens; advocates for policy on behalf of immigrant survivors of violence; publishes educational materials; and runs training programs that educate the public, legal practitioners, government officials, and law enforcement officers about immigration law, policy and practice.","post_title":"Safe Horizon and ASISTA File FOIA Request Seeking Immigration Policy Data Related to U-Visa Adjudications","post_excerpt":"\u201cThis data is needed to provide a minimum level of transparency on USCIS\u2019 practices as it relates to a critical form of immigration relief for survivors of violence and abuse,\u201d - Evangeline M. Chan, Esq., Director of Safe Horizon\u2019s Immigration Law Project.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"safe-horizon-and-asista-file-foia-request-seeking-immigration-policy-data-related-to-u-visa-adjudications","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-06-10 14:57:03","post_modified_gmt":"2025-06-10 18:57:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/?p=8188","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":8411,"post_author":"13","post_date":"2021-03-08 20:52:22","post_date_gmt":"2021-03-09 01:52:22","post_content":"Gotham Gazette <\/em>\r\nBy Angela Harriet*<\/em>\r\nMarch 8, 2021<\/em>\r\n\r\nAs President Biden begins to make good on his\u00a0promise\u00a0to reverse<\/a>\u00a0some of the Trump Administration\u2019s most\u00a0heinous\u00a0immigration\u00a0policies, I\u00a0welcome the changes but\u00a0hope he\u00a0is able to dig deeper.\u00a0Because for every horrific\u00a0Trump Administration immigration\u00a0policy\u00a0that\u00a0was announced and\u00a0grabbed headlines,\u00a0there were\u00a0others that were discreetly implemented<\/a>, effectively creating an \u201cinvisible wall.\u201d\r\n\r\nThese more subtle shifts in policy have been devastating, and unfortunately, only become obvious to the public after thousands have already been impacted. A particularly unjust one impacts\u00a0domestic\u00a0violence survivors like me.\r\n\r\nBorn\u00a0and raised\u00a0in\u00a0the Caribbean in\u00a0Kingston,\u00a0Jamaica, I immigrated\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0U.S. in 1998\u00a0and have lived\u00a0here\u00a0in New York City since.\u00a0A single mother to my daughter, a natural-born U.S. citizen who is now age 13, I work as a home health aide and am also a certified chaplain of my church, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in theology.\r\n\r\nBut this part of my story began in 2009. I started dating someone and it was going well in the beginning. But then he began to behave in ways that made me not trust him and so I tried to end the relationship. He would not leave me alone until he convinced me to meet up with him at a hotel one day. That is when he raped me.\r\n\r\nMy world was\u00a0shattered.\u00a0I was terrified of him but even more terrified of reporting\u00a0this\u00a0crime to law enforcement because of my immigration status. He was a U.S. citizen and he knew I was undocumented. I\u00a0only told one person, a family friend.\r\n\r\nThen in early 2011, the father of my daughter, Keith*, threatened to shoot me during an argument we had. Fearing he really had a gun, I grabbed my cell phone and\u00a0called the police. By the time\u00a0the police\u00a0arrived,\u00a0Keith had fled the apartment we shared, and so the officers asked some questions but\u00a0left without filling out a police report. The next morning, however, the same\u00a0officers\u00a0returned to arrest me because Keith had filed a report accusing me of assaulting him\u2014with the cell phone I used to call the police\u00a0when he threatened me! I\u00a0ended\u00a0up being\u00a0charged with assault with a weapon.\u00a0I had to appear in court a couple of\u00a0times\u00a0but the case was\u00a0ultimately\u00a0dismissed\u00a0as Keith\u00a0did\u00a0not appear. The records were then\u00a0sealed<\/a>.\r\n\r\nI\u00a0tried to move on with my life until one day, later that year, I got a call from my sister,\u00a0who mentioned that she saw in the news\u00a0that\u00a0someone we both knew\u00a0was\u00a0arrested and charged with several counts of\u00a0rape. She said\u00a0she did not believe it was true and so\u00a0I\u00a0opened up\u00a0to her\u2014I told her\u00a0I\u00a0knew\u00a0it was true\u00a0because\u00a0he\u00a0did the same to me.\r\n\r\nWith my sister\u2019s encouragement, I came forward to the detective handling the case and reported the crime committed against me. That\u2019s\u00a0when I learned I should be able to get humanitarian immigration\u00a0help\u00a0as a crime\u00a0victim.\r\n\r\nI was introduced to\u00a0Safe Horizon<\/a>, a non-profit organization, by the detective. At this point,\u00a0fear and\u00a0paranoia\u00a0took over\u00a0since my rapist knew where I lived and my immigration status. I received counseling from Safe Horizon and\u00a0its\u00a0Immigration Law Project<\/a>\u00a0attorneys\u00a0helped me apply for legal status in the U.S.\u00a0through the\u00a0U visa program<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThis\u00a0special\u00a0visa\u00a0is\u00a0available\u00a0to\u00a0victims\u00a0of certain serious crimes who are helpful to law enforcement\u00a0in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. I applied in 2012\u00a0and I was granted a U visa in 2013, which allowed me to live\u00a0and\u00a0work in the United States lawfully,\u00a0and\u00a0three years later, to apply for permanent residence, or a \u201cgreen card.\u201d In 2017, again\u00a0with the assistance of the Immigration Law Project, I submitted my application for a green card.\r\n\r\nI was shocked to receive a request from the Department of Homeland Security\u00a0(DHS)\u00a0for\u00a0details about my arrest in 2011, even\u00a0though I had already\u00a0disclosed\u00a0my arrest in my U visa application and explained that the records were sealed. DHS demanded unsealing of the records to determine what kind of weapon was involved and whether I\u00a0was indeed a threat to\u00a0public safety.\r\n\r\nAccording to my attorneys, this was a noticeable shift from previous DHS policy. Before the Trump Administration, DHS would not demand unsealing of records because arrests that resulted in dismissed charges and\/or sealed records typically did not warrant additional scrutiny. Moreover,\u00a0sealing statutes, such as the one in New York<\/a>, are designed to protect individuals in situations like mine. It allows us to essentially\u00a0start over without the stigma that usually comes with an arrest. My attorneys refused to ask for unsealing of the records. Consequently, my\u00a0\u201cgreen card\u201d\u00a0application was denied.\r\n\r\n\r\nRead the original article here.<\/em><\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/article><\/div>","post_title":"How the Biden Administration Should Better Protect Immigrant Domestic Violence Survivors Like Me","post_excerpt":"Facing domestic violence while undocumented, *Angela shares her story and outlines how the Biden Administration can change harmful policies to help survivors like her.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"how-the-biden-administration-should-better-protect-immigrant-domestic-violence-survivors-like-me","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-11-29 14:56:13","post_modified_gmt":"2023-11-29 19:56:13","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/?p=8411","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"eyebrow":"","heading":"","text":"","primary_cta":"","hide_post_date":true,"authors":false},"yoast_head":"\n