The issue of what to do with America’s millions of illegal immigrants — particularly those caught and released from the criminal justice system — has become a central campaign issue for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and a sore point of contention for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
But the issue of immigration to the United States — how to get there, how to stay there and how to avoid being deported — has long been the focus of an entire society that operates beneath the radar of everyday life in America. That issue is finally coming under real scrutiny due to the Trump campaign — and a lot of unsavory information is starting to come to light.
A visa intended for protection of women and children being victimized by human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault and other abuse is now itself being abused in a justice system under assault by illegal immigrants to the United States.
But a loophole in U.S. immigration laws is allowing illegals who accuse others of acts of domestic violence to obtain asylum and thus remain legally in the United States.
This technicality is being carried out under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was intended as a humanitarian provision. But the legislation instead encourages immigration fraud, according to Colorado’s former Arapahoe County District Attorney Michael Steinberg. Under this law, many individuals have been falsely accused of carrying out acts of domestic violence – and their illegal immigrant accusers were granted legal asylum.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the purpose of the “U” visa is to give victims of domestic violence temporary legal status and work eligibility in the United States for up to four years.
One case described by the attorney involved a young American man who believed he was involved with an innocent girl from Mongolia, who approached him and asked him out.
Every time they saw each other, they had a good time, and when they parted each time, she whispered, “text me.” Which he did. Every time. Both were students at a university, but what the young man didn’t know was that the woman’s entire family was also in the U.S. – and all of them needed a visa to stay.
The young man had provided the perfect digital evidence to prove a claim of “stalking” under VAWA legislation, which made the woman and her entire family eligible for the U visa, also known as a “green card.” This allowed them to remain in the United States and ultimately gain citizenship.
It also landed him in jail because he had no defense against the allegations she made against him, no way to prove that he wasn’t stalking her, no way to prove she had BEGGED him to “text [her].” It never occurred to him to use his cell phone to record her voice as she asked him to do so, which would have proved his defense, and her lies.
According to the Fox News report, the first trial ended in a hung jury but he was convicted the second time around.
According to the Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 52,666 people submitted U visa applications for a green card last year, claiming to be victims of a crime. The number is still rising. It was 24,768 in 2012.
The U visa was created to protect the victims of despicable crimes and who might be afraid to report them due to language barriers, cultural differences and even possibly their own ignorance of the law, or fears of deportation, Steinberg told Fox News in a report last Thursday (Sept. 8). Instead, he said the U visa is now being used by illegal immigrants to gain legal status in the country they infiltrated.
According to section 1.D. for Form I-918, [a] “federal, state or local government official investigating or prosecuting a qualifying criminal activity [such as domestic violence] certifies… that you have been, you are being or you are likely to be helpful to the official in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal act of which you are a victim.” Once certified, that individual is home free in the United States, at least for the next four years.
At least 75 percent of the applicants for annually approved 10,000 U visas to date say they have suffered domestic violence, according to a statement on Steinberg’s website.
“The U visa offers a wonderful opportunity when used appropriately,” Steinberg contends in a statement on his site, “but it can be lopsided and misused.
“If a person wants to get rid of a spouse fighting for custody or a rival gang member, these visas are very convenient, while the people on the other side can lose everything: their children, their jobs, their liberty and their right to stay here.”