Victims of crime hoping Congress eases visa hurdles

HARRISBURG >> In a bid to become a legal permanent resident of the United States, she says she lives in fear, afraid of being deported and of retribution after she testified against men who were convicted of killing her boyfriend.

Robbers forced her and her boyfriend to lay on the floor of his Philadelphia rowhouse, she testified, and after searching the house for cash he made selling drugs, shot him pointblank in the head.

Even after that horror, the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said bearing the fear is worth it. That’s because in the U.S. — where she overstayed a visitor’s visa 20 years ago to escape civil war in her native Liberia — she can work and send money back to her son.

Her best, and perhaps last, hope for remaining in the U.S. is her application for a U visa, carved out for people without legal status who become victims of serious crimes — or in some cases, witnesses — and help law enforcement solve them.

But the program is broken, immigrant advocates say, leaving applicants waiting years for a decision — sometimes without permission to work or protection from deportation. After the Trump administration made it easier to deport U visa applicants, they’re hoping for help from President Joe Biden, who’s backing changes to the program in major immigration legislation poised for House debate this week.

Many applicants are women and children who have endured horrific abuse or trafficking.