Frederick County's top prosecutor is turning to a previously untapped resource in his efforts to put dangerous criminals behind bars.J. Charles Smith III, the Republican State's Attorney for Frederick County, has begun using the federal U Visa program, which helps unauthorized immigrants who are victims of domestic violence and other crimes, such as rape, torture and involuntary servitude.
In exchange for a maximum of four years to live and work legally in the U.S., program participants help government and law enforcement authorities investigate and prosecute crimes, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A participant's cooperation must be verified to validate the U Visa.
Abusive spouses can use their victims' immigration status to gain power and control, said Lisae Jordan, legislative counsel for the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
An abuser may dissuade his victim from contacting law enforcement by threatening to terminate her immigration process or turn her in to authorities, Jordan said.
Recognizing this, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, which mandated creation of the U Visa.
The program can put power back into the hands of victims, Jordan said.
"They allow spouses to petition on their own, to take the power and control away from the batterer."
Smith said he signed off on one U Visa in the past two weeks. Over the past seven months, he has seen fewer than a dozen used in local cases.
Though he understands consternation about undocumented immigrants in the community, these cases involve substantial physical harm to the victim.
As a prosecutor, he must balance giving a visa to an undocumented immigrant with the need to bring violent criminals to justice.
Most of the time, Smith said, these witnesses will not come forward to testify without a U Visa.
"I'd much rather put a rapist in jail," he said.
Win-win
Outside the tension between national security concerns and the reality of employment and labor, the U Visa helps law enforcement fight crime, said Deepa Bijpuria, an attorney with the Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc.'s Multi-Ethnic Domestic Violence Project.
The key, she said, is educating police that this tool can help them. Before turning suspects over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, law officers might check if some are eligible.
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office hasn't handled any U Visa cases, spokeswoman Cpl. Jennifer Bailey wrote in an e-mail.
Bijpuria said the Baltimore-based Multi-Ethnic Domestic Violence Project is one of about three legal groups in the state who work for free or low cost. She is now handling about 10 to 20 U Visa cases, and receives new calls every month.
Bijpuria said she is working with a Frederick woman who depends on her American husband for her legal status, and she has had other cases from Frederick .
In part due to Frederick 's burgeoning Hispanic community, she suspects there are many more instances of violence against immigrants, but victims have difficulty getting to her office.
Rosario Garcia, a witness advocate for the Frederick Police Department, said she has been able to help with at least two U Visas. She provides information and guides immigrants to services that offer legal advice and counseling.
Garcia speaks about the visa at education programs such as the federally-funded Even Start, which is geared toward integrating immigrant families into local school systems.
When people step from the shadows and help law enforcement, what better way to repay them and their families than offering this type of relief, she asked.
Mona Fam, an adult education teacher at Hillcrest Elementary's Even Start program, said efforts by Frederick County Commissioner Charles Jenkins to block immigrants from some benefits, as well as the recent deputizing of about two dozen local sheriff's deputies to enforce federal immigration laws, have rattled many newcomers.
Some immigrants are afraid to leave their homes or drive in a car, she said, because they believe they might be stopped and deported. Authorized immigrants have told her they worry about being discriminated against as they seek employment.
Fam said she tries to allay these fears, some of which are unwarranted, and provide her students with accurate information.
Tomorrow: The U Visa Program, Part 2 - Turning violence around
|
