Editor’s note: This story discusses domestic violence.
An investigation shows the Portland Police Bureau wrongly dismissed dozens of visa applications from undocumented victims and witnesses of crimes, the city ombudsman announced June 21.
Portland’s Office of the Ombudsman found PPB “failed to live up to its responsibilities in handling U visas,” a federal program created to encourage undocumented victims and witnesses of certain crimes to assist law enforcement in prosecutions.
In one instance, a woman applied after her former partner was arrested and charged with domestic violence, strangulation, theft, coercion and witness tampering. Her ex-partner had previously pushed her out of a moving vehicle.
The reviewer denied her application because she had a criminal history, noting in the denial that the woman’s criminal history was “more than concerning.”
Her criminal history included only a single misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and several non-criminal driving offenses.
The city ombudsman’s office found the woman’s application likely qualified for a U visa and was part of a rising number PPB wrongly rejected. According to the ombudsman’s report, since the program’s inaugural year in 2020, PPB may have wrongly rejected nearly 50 applications.
The report links these oversights to insufficient training, staff turnover and policy gaps.
Tony Green, deputy ombudsman, said these applicants should have been protected under the law governing U visas.
“These folks are victims of serious crimes,” Green said. “They face deportation. They are the sorts of folks that the city has made a commitment to protecting and making this feel like a welcoming place. I think we're not honoring those lofty policy goals, and we're certainly not protecting some of the most vulnerable members of the community if those undocumented victims of crime aren't given a full and fair hearing when they request certification.”
Dozens of denials
The investigation was spurred by a complaint. In 2022, a woman filed a complaint with the ombudsman’s office after her U visa request was denied — “first in late 2021 and again in early 2022.” According to the report, when the woman was 17, she filed a police report after her older partner physically assaulted her.
According to federal law, undocumented victims of domestic violence are eligible for U visas. But the woman received a denial letter saying PPB rejected her application due to a lack of “probable cause for a domestic violence case.”
Ombudsman’s office staff interviewed the woman and reviewed the police report, finding it showed “the woman’s aunt witnessed the assault, and that the woman went to the hospital, where a doctor documented her injuries and noted the possibility of statutory rape. The woman also told police that her partner threatened to post a sexually explicit video of her on the internet.”
The substantive evidence of domestic violence in this rejected application prompted a deeper examination. The ombudsman’s office reviewed more than 200 U visa applications submitted between January 2020 and June 2022 and more than a dozen police reports that weren’t included in the application files maintained by PPB. Investigators interviewed “current and former Bureau personnel, national U visa experts, immigration advocates, attorneys for U visa applicants,” and representatives of other Oregon law enforcement agencies.
The investigation found dozens of applications that appeared to qualify.
Investigators found the rate of approval dropped sharply in recent years. In 2020, the year the program started, PPB approved 80% of U visa applications — more than 10% higher than the combined rate of all other agencies in Oregon.
By 2021, the approval rate fell to 48%, while the rate for other state agencies rose from 74% to 76%.
Investigators say the drop was likely caused by inconsistent oversight, insufficient training and policy gaps.
“We found no evidence that the drop resulted from Bureau leaders directing staff to take a different approach, nor did we find a change in the quality of the applications,” the report reads.
The report notes the gaps resulting in unfair rejection “put the Bureau in direct conflict with the City’s policies around making Portland safe and welcoming for immigrants” and urges the city to “act with urgency to remedy past harm and make programmatic changes to ensure problems do not resurface.”
Federal protections
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, or TVPA, created the U visa program to improve law enforcement’s ability to investigate serious crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking by encouraging crime victims to report crimes and assist in prosecutions when they are undocumented.
When granted, U visas grant lawful status for up to four years, including the opportunity to work legally. They also offer the chance of becoming a permanent resident for the applicant and qualifying family members if conditions are met. Witnesses to crimes can also qualify for protections.
To be eligible, a person must have been a victim of one of 28 qualifying crimes and must have “suffered mental or physical abuse as a result of the criminal activity; possess information about the criminal activity; be helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity; and be otherwise eligible to be in the US.”
In addition to federal law, Oregon law requires law enforcement agencies to review requests and meet reporting deadlines. The law also requires law enforcement agencies to assume crime victims are being helpful.
Outcomes
The report requests a review of the identified applications and an update to written policy to ensure law enforcement fairly reviews U visa applications in alignment with the text and intent of federal law. It also notes a need for updated training policies around the application process.
In a written response to the investigation, PPB Chief Chuck Lovell said PPB reviewed the 49 cases flagged by the ombudsman’s office and allowed additional information to be submitted alongside the existing application. According to Lovell, PPB contacted relevant attorneys in each case and notified them that they could supply additional information.
In three instances, the applicant provided additional information, and PPB approved the application. Lovell also noted PPB's procedure for evaluating requests was updated in 2022, but did not specify how it was updated. Lovell did note PPB’s 2021/2022 approval rate — 67% — was comparable to Washington County’s 71%, noting Washington County was the only agency that processed more applications than PPB.
Regarding training, Lovell said a lieutenant researched options and was “unable to locate any recent training opportunities.” Lovell said other agencies and certifying officials recommended the manual already in use by PPB, the UVisa Law Enforcement Resource Guide. Lovell also said PPB plans to offer a related training in 2023.
In a formal response contained in the ombudsman’s report, Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner, expressed support for PPB’s efforts to address the findings.
“I am pleased to support PPB in its efforts to re-assess the applications in question and to invite additional information that is relevant to certification,” Wheeler said. “I also want to underscore PPB’s commitment to maintaining a policy and training on these issues in accordance with the legal framework of these processes to ensure it is meeting its obligations.”
The mayor’s office did not respond to questions from Street Roots about changes to policy or reconsidering the applications flagged in the ombudsman’s report.
Green noted closing any gaps in training and policy are important for ensuring the U visa program protects undocumented crime victims and law enforcement’s ability to address crime and public safety.
“People who are undocumented are very vulnerable because they are afraid to come forward because they fear that that adds to the risk of deportation,” Green said. “And that makes it so that the people who prey on them are able to do so with impunity.”
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