Some help is coming for immigrants living in Hennepin County. While they make up more than 10% of the population, they also don't tend to report serious crime because they fear deportation.
The Hennepin County Attorney's office is announcing a new Visa policy. Assistant County Attorney Eder Castillo.
"So, our new policy is meant to be inclusive so that all of the non-citizen victims who have been harmed in Hennepin County or live in Hennepin County and their families feel safe enough to tell us their story," says Castillo.
He says this policy is also designed to help strengthen trust between non-citizen victims of crime and law enforcement.
U and T Visas were created by Congress 25 years ago. These provide immigration benefits to crime victims. The attorney's office says 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.
“Historically, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has not made full use of this public safety tool,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.
In the past, the Hennepin County Attorney's office put up additional barriers not intended by Congress, meaning many of these crimes went unreported.
That's about to change says Moriarty.
"This new policy was crafted to strengthen law enforcement's ability to detect and solve crimes, and to increase trust in the legal system with vulnerable populations that are often preyed upon," Moriarty explains.
The policy is intended to also improve the relationship between victims and law enforcement.
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 created two types of visas available for certain victims of crimes:
U nonimmigrant visas provide legal status to victims of an enumerated list of “qualifying criminal activities” who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse, and possess information concerning that crime, and who have been, are being, or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement or government officials.
T nonimmigrant visas provide legal status to certain victims of human trafficking who assist law enforcement authorities in the investigation or prosecution of trafficking crimes.