{"id":10654,"date":"2025-01-22T16:06:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T16:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=10654"},"modified":"2025-01-22T16:06:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T16:06:17","slug":"federal-court-judge-allows-immigrant-survivors-lawsuit-over-u-visa-delays-to-proceed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/22\/federal-court-judge-allows-immigrant-survivors-lawsuit-over-u-visa-delays-to-proceed\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Court Judge allows Immigrant Survivors’ Lawsuit over U Visa delays to proceed"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT, MI, January 13, 2025:\u00a0A federal district court judge in Michigan has\u00a0ruled<\/a>\u00a0that survivors of crime who are suing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unreasonable delays in their U visa applications have enough standing to move forward in their lawsuit. The decision comes after the plaintiffs in the case,\u00a0<\/strong>A.M.P. v. DHS<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(formally known as B.L.R. v. DHS)<\/em>, asked the court to reconsider its previous decision to dismiss the case.<\/p>\n

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), and Winston & Strawn LLP\u00a0filed<\/a>\u00a0the class-action lawsuit in 2023. The nine named plaintiffs are survivors who assisted law enforcement in criminal investigations, filed U visa applications more than three years ago, and are still waiting for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to make initial decisions, known as \u201cbona fide determinations,\u201d which could provide them access to work authorization and protection from deportation while they wait in a years-long backlog for their visa applications to be fully considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, our clients and other noncitizen victims of crime are affected by prolonged U visa processing times caused by USCIS inaction and delay,\u201d said Meredith Luneack, staff attorney at MIRC. \u201cWe have several clients who have waited nearly six years without any updates or news, or even an initial acknowledgement of the legitimacy of their case. The court ruled that our clients have been injured by these delays. We celebrate this recognition of our clients\u2019 suffering, and we look forward to continuing our advocacy to address these unreasonable and harmful delays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congress created the U visa in 2000, as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, to provide a pathway to permanent status for noncitizen survivors who suffer substantial physical or mental harm as a result of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, or other qualifying crimes and for whom a law enforcement officer certifies that they were helpful in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. The program was intended to allow noncitizens to seek help from law enforcement without fearing they might be deported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main trauma that I have is that for some reason they could deport me, separate me from my family. My son is here and my wife is pregnant,\u201d said\u00a0Felipe Emmanuel Dzib Cohuo in 2023<\/strong>, a plaintiff in the case who has waited more than three years for his application to be adjudicated. \u201cI don\u2019t feel free to board an airplane or a train, or walk freely on the street without being worried and alert all the time that there might be an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officer because that\u2019s my biggest fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court had previously issued an erroneous decision last year granting a motion from DHS that sought to dismiss the case. The court\u2019s January 2 decision acknowledged and corrected its error, concluding that the court has the authority to consider whether it should compel DHS to address unreasonable delays in the bona fide determinations process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s ruling, which recognizes that survivors are harmed by delays in U visa processing, means that USCIS does not have carte blanche to sit on applications indefinitely,\u201d said Richard Caldarone, senior litigation attorney at NIJC. \u201cThe plaintiffs will now have an opportunity to show that it is unreasonable for the agency to take more than four years to provide relief that requires only minutes of staff time.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the plaintiffs have suffered severe harm from DHS\u2019s delays, often because they are unable to apply for work authorization until they receive a bona fide determination. For example, lead plaintiff\u00a0A.M.P.<\/strong>\u00a0brought charges against an acquaintance who sexually assaulted her. A.M.P. applied for a U visa in October 2021 but has yet to receive a bona fide determination from USCIS \u2014 meaning that she cannot legally work and lacks a reliable way to transport her U.S. citizen son, who has eye cancer, to medical appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to litigating plaintiffs\u2019 claims on their merits and helping U visa applicants avoid needless delays in obtaining the benefits they deserve,\u201d said Winston & Strawn partner Kurt Mathas.<\/p>\n

Immigrants in Michigan who have questions about their rights can call MIRC at (734) 239-6863.<\/p>\n

Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)\u00a0<\/strong>is a statewide legal resource center for Michigan\u2019s immigrant communities that works to build a thriving Michigan where immigrant communities experience equity and belonging. MIRC’s work is rooted in three pillars: direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community engagement and education.\u00a0michiganimmigrant.org<\/a><\/p>\n

National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)<\/strong>\u00a0is dedicated to ensuring human rights protections and access to justice for all immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. NIJC provides direct legal services to and advocates for these populations through policy reform, impact litigation, and public education.\u00a0immigrantjustice.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DETROIT, MI, January 13, 2025:\u00a0A federal district court judge in Michigan has\u00a0ruled\u00a0that survivors of crime who are suing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unreasonable delays in their U visa applications have enough standing to move forward in their lawsuit. The decision comes after the plaintiffs in the case,\u00a0A.M.P. v. DHS\u00a0(formally known as B.L.R.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[239],"class_list":["post-10654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"LaPrensa Newspaper","author_link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/author\/laprensa\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Articles<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"DETROIT, MI, January 13, 2025:\u00a0A federal district court judge in Michigan has\u00a0ruled\u00a0that survivors of crime who are suing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unreasonable delays in their U visa applications have enough standing to move forward in their lawsuit. The decision comes after the plaintiffs in the case,\u00a0A.M.P. v. DHS\u00a0(formally known as B.L.R.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10655,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10654\/revisions\/10655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10654"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}