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The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office today announced a new U/T visa policy designed to support noncitizen victims of crime and promote public safety by helping to increase the likelihood that crimes will be reported. U and T visas provide legal status for victims of certain crimes and help to protect them from further victimization. The new policy announced today provides a path to U and T visas through the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for victims that have been helpful, are being helpful, or are likely to be helpful in the detection, investigation, prosecution, conviction, or sentencing of certain crimes. Several Hennepin County Attorney’s Office partner organizations joined in today’s announcement.
“Historically, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has not made full use of this public safety tool,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “But I made it a priority of my administration to change that. This policy was crafted to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to detect and solve crimes and to increase trust in the justice system with vulnerable populations who are too often preyed upon.”
One in ten residents of Hennepin County are immigrants, yet research suggests immigrant community members report crime at a lower rate than other residents in some cases. While all crime victims may face barriers to reporting crime, noncitizen victims can face additional barriers, including fear of deportation. As a result, law enforcement officers and prosecutors are often denied valuable tools to protect public safety while noncitizen residents are denied justice.
“Being victimized by a crime is traumatic, and particularly so for new American survivors who often worry that they will be separated from their families if they report the crime,” Veena Iyer, Executive Director, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said. “The U and T visas are critical tools for eliminating these fears and keeping our communities safe. We therefore welcome the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office’s new U and T visa policy, which aims to dismantle barriers to safety and security for immigrant survivors and witnesses of crime.”
“Sexual assault is the most underreported violent crime and a person’s immigration status can create additional barriers to ever accessing critical protection and support,” PaHoua Vang, Interim Executive Director, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said. “As the state-wide coalition against sexual violence, MNCASA wants victim/survivors to know there are free and confidential, community-based advocacy services available for you – whether you report to law enforcement or not. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office updated U and T visa policy commits to being victim-centered by not using previous criminal history in determining certification; to being trauma-informed by training their staff and recognizing the impact of harm to victims; and to being culturally-responsive by prioritizing staff who reflect the community to be working in these spaces directly. Naming these practices in policy ensures victims know what to expect, how it will be done, and when they can receive an answer. MNCASA encourages other agencies – including county attorney offices and police departments –to review their current U and T visa policies and adopt practices similar to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.”
Removing obstacles to reporting crime assists law enforcement and prosecutors in the detection, investigation, and prosecution of crime. U and T visas are a proven tool to ensure crimes are reported among immigrant communities. The federal statute authorizing these visas was established by Congress in 2000 and was reauthorized under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office will host three community events beginning next week to share the policy and process with the community and answer questions. The first event will be on Tuesday, March 12, at 5:30 PM at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Additional events will be held in Richfield and Brooklyn Park in April. The office will announce the location and times for those events as soon as possible.
The full policy is available here: https://www.hennepinattorney.org/-/media/cao/get-help/crime/uvisa/hcao-uvisa-policy-updated-2024.pdf.
Additional information and resources are on the office’s website: https://www.hennepinattorney.org/get-help/crime/u-t-visa.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has also released a short video as part of its “HCAO Explains” web series providing short descriptions of U and T visas. The video is available here: https://youtu.be/fihlExQoLy8.
Joining the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to announce these changes were representatives from the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, Minnesota Immigrant Movement, the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, and the International Institute of Minnesota, as well as other organizations that serve our immigrant community.
“As a national trainer on the U visa and someone who worked with Congress to create the U and T visas, I applaud the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on their U and T visa policy which serves a model for the country,” National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) Director Leslye Orloff said. “The new policy is 100% consistent with the U visa statute, regulations and DHS policies, provides excellent detailed instructions to prosecution office staff and the public, and recognizes the importance of prosecutors promoting a trauma informed, linguistically accessible, and culturally responsive approaches to working with immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, trafficking and other violent crimes.”
“Legal Aid is heartened to know HCAO has listened to advocates about the significant barriers faced by immigrant survivors of violence,” Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid Attorney Camila Pacheco-Fores said. “This new U/T policy alleviates some of those barriers for our clients and others by adopting a policy that not only makes the process of requesting and receiving U/T certifications more accessible to them, but centers their experiences, is trauma-informed and promises a quick turnaround while doing so.”
“We are so appreciative of these new developments and what they mean for the immigrant community,” Minnesota and Dakotas Chapter of the American Immigrant Lawyers Association Chair Matthew Webster said. “Strengthening the U and T visa programs and policies is a critical step to protecting the laws of the United States and the lives of those victims of trafficking and other crimes. Too often, justice deferred is justice denied, and these improvements to strengthen the U and T visa practices and expedite certifications help ensure that a lack of status doesn’t result in a lack of justice.”
“No matter who you are or where you came from, Law Enforcement is here to help the victims of crime,” Minneapolis Police Department Third Precinct Inspector Jose Gomez said. “That includes investigating individual crimes while caring for the well-being of those impacted by crime and helping victims navigate their way through the process. The City of Minneapolis has an ordinance and MPD has a policy that prohibits any law enforcement action to detect the presence of an undocumented person, or to verify immigration status. Being a victim of a crime or witnessing a crime can cause trauma and fear. Fear of being asked about one's immigration status can cause additional fear. Those who are negatively impacted by crime and need to contact the police should not worry about being questioned about their status as a citizen. I lived in fear of police growing up due to my parent’s immigration status, I don’t want anyone else to experience this.”
“Minneapolis will benefit from County Attorney Moriarty’s initiative that will remove obstacles that have previously discouraged victims from reporting crimes,” Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez said. “The culturally specific services, trauma informed lens, and processing certification requests within 30 days or 7 days for victims in deportation proceedings will improve the lives of many of my constituents.”
“Hennepin County’s new U/T Visa Policy stands as a guiding example in the state as it provides clear, step-by-step guidance for agencies,” International Institute of Minnesota Immigration and Refugee Services Senior Director Micaela Schuneman said. “The International Institute of Minnesota applauds that the policy demonstrates an awareness of the challenges and fears faced by immigrant victims, who often feel the need to balance their desire for safety and justice with their fear of possible deportation should they report crime. We thank the HCAO for recognizing the importance of employing Certifying Officials with lived or learned experience with immigrant communities and immigration law. The policy also correctly follows timelines to respond to requests set forth by the Minnesota legislature, identifies the need for closely followed language access guidelines, and displays an understanding of the variety of ways a victim-survivor may assist police in an investigation. The Institute looks forward to continuing to work with the HCAO to make Minnesota a welcome, safe, and responsive community for immigrants.”
"When any segment of our society lives in fear of speaking out when they are harmed by the actions of others, that has rippling impacts across our workplaces, communities, schools and more,” Merle Payne, Co-Director of Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha (CTUL), said. "We are glad to see that the Hennepin County Attorney's Office is taking these steps to ensure a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach related to T-Visas and U-Visas. This will go a long way towards supporting immigrant communities to speak out."
“Minneapolis welcomes the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office new U/T Visa policy as an important tool to support victims of crime and trafficking born outside of the United States.” Michelle Rivero, Director of the City of Minneapolis Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs said. “This new policy holds promise for reducing vulnerability and fear, increasing access to opportunity, and fostering stronger relationships of trust between residents and local government. This is an important and comprehensive policy which will positively impact the residents of our city.”
“HACER was born in 1988 as a way for who serves the Hispanic Community in MN could count with reliable information that could support all efforts to improve their lives,” Rodolfo Gutierrez, Executive Director of Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment Through Research (HACER), said. “Our diverse communities encompass generations of people who are even native Minnesotans, as well as immigrants, many of whom are under irregular immigration conditions. We support the efforts that the system offers to those who have been going through the burden of being abused, at home, at their jobs, or via violence. That is why we, at HACER, support dissemination of U and T visas as an option to protect those victims, who might not even know about those options while living here. That is why we support the Hennepin County Attorney Office.”
“The Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association (MHBA) applauds the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) for its efforts to provide an environment for our immigrant community where they feel safe to report to the police when they are victims of crimes and assist our judicial system with prosecuting these crimes,” Braynell Estrada Britton, President of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, said. “Through its new U and T visa policy, the HCAO is advancing access to justice and protecting victims and witnesses who have suffered abuse or been trafficked and want to collaborate with law enforcement. The MHBA believes this policy will serve as an example to nationwide prosecutorial offices and encourage other agencies to review their U and T visa practices.”
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Look for more news on the Hennepin County Attorney's Office website.
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