Gwen Moore signs onto letter urging ICE to avoid deporting crime victim visa applicants
Moore, a Democrat, signed onto a letter addressed to Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, and Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Eleven other congressional Democrats were with Moore.
They expressed their deep concern that ICE is "arresting victims of crime who have already applied or are eligible for immigration relief including T and U visas." And they asked that T and U visa applicants currently in ICE detention be released.
Under a Biden-era policy, ICE generally did not deport immigrants who had applied for one of those visas — T for human trafficking victims, U for crime victims. Those visas require victims to cooperate with law enforcement as witnesses in the investigations into the people who committed the crimes.
"Absent exceptional circumstances, ICE officers will refrain from taking civil immigration enforcement actions against" people with pending or approved applications, according to the previous policy.
The congressional letter-writers asked for that policy to be reinstated. The Trump administration's new guidance is "overly vague and ineffective," they said.
The new guidance says that, when encountering an immigrant with a pending or approved T or U visa application, ICE agents should first consult with the agency's legal advisors.
"These visa programs make everyone in our communities safer; without them, undocumented victims and witnesses might be too scared to come forward to report crimes to the detriment of all," the Democrats' letter reads.
More: Milwaukee teacher's aide Yessenia Ruano self-deports to El Salvador
Milwaukee Public Schools teacher's aide Yessenia Ruano is among the immigrants who had a pending T visa application but was forced by ICE in June to self-deport to El Salvador before her case was decided.
More: Immigrant wrongly accused of threatening Trump released on bond, family still faces death threats
Also, an undocumented immigrant named Ramón Morales-Reyes was detained by federal agents in Milwaukee after prosecutors say he was framed and wrongly accused of mailing a threat to shoot President Donald Trump. Morales-Reyes had a pending U visa application after he cooperated with police and testified against the man charged with robbing and assaulting him. The suspect in that case, Demetric Scott, is now charged with sending the fake threat.
An immigration judge will decide whether Morales-Reyes stays with his family or gets deported.
Only 10,000 U visas and 5,000 T visas are given out nationally each year, although the cap for T visas has never been reached because the criteria is strict. Nationwide backlogs mean cases can take years to be decided.
More: Milwaukee police have seen a rise in U visa applications for undocumented crime victims
More: He was set to testify. He may be deported instead. What that means for public safety in Milwaukee
Sophie Carson is a general assignment reporter who reports on religion and faith, immigrants and refugees and more. Contact her at scarson@gannett.com or 920-323-5758.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gwen Moore urges ICE not to deport applicants for crime victim visas
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