MariaOrozcosits on a brown vinyl couch in her mobile home in Austin. Her big purse is splayed out on her lap as she digs around for her wallet, which holds her Texas driver鈥檚 license and a red, white and blue Employment Authorization Card. 鈥淲hen I got my license, oh my God, I was super happy," she says.
These cards are the product of a visa process she started three years ago.Orozco鈥檚special visa, called a U Visa, was created by Congress 15 years ago to give legal status to immigrant victims of serious crimes if they help with criminal investigations.
Law enforcement officers and immigrant advocates pushed for the program because they want undocumented immigrants to feel safe reporting crimes鈥攏ot just because it protects vulnerable members of the society, but because it鈥檚 good for community safety in general. Now there are many more applicants than visas.
ForOrozco, getting the visa has been a slow process, but worth it. She got her visa last year. It allows her to live in the country legally, and after three years she can apply for her permanent residence.
鈥淚鈥檓 happier than I鈥檝e ever been because I feel like, for the first time, I鈥檓 living my life," she says. "I鈥檓 not being controlled by a man.鈥�
LikeOrozco, almost half of those (mostly women) who apply for U Visas are victims of domestic violence. When Maria left her hometown in Nicaragua 11 years ago at 3 in the morning, she didn鈥檛 have much of a plan. She made the decision out of fear of her boyfriend.
鈥淭he last time, he put a gun to my head,鈥漁rozcosays. 鈥淚 thought, one day this man is going to kill me.鈥�
Orozco finally called the police. As they took her boyfriend away in handcuffs he warned her, 鈥淵ou know what鈥檚 going to happen to you when I get out of here.鈥�
So she left. She crossed the border illegally and settled in Texas. Then she met a guy at church 鈥� let鈥檚 call him Miguel. He didn鈥檛 treat her well, but, compared to her ex, Miguel seemed kind. They moved in together. One night he came home angry. He grabbed her and dragged her across the front yard. Her friend called the police.
Miguel was in jail for three weeks. When he got out,Orozcogot back with him. Within a couple weeks he attacked her again and went back to jail. It went on like that. Eventually, they got pregnant and married.
One day Miguel punchedOrozcoin the face while he was driving. She called the police and 鈥� jail again.
鈥淏eing a victim of domestic violence is like being a drug addict,鈥漁rozcosays. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get out, really. You have to be strong to get out. If not, it鈥檚 like a sickness that eats at you every day.鈥�
Congress designed the U visa program to protect women likeOrozco, but legislators also set a limit on how many of these visas can be issued every year. No matter how many people apply and are eligible, only 10,000 U Visas are given out each year.
Applicants can get work permits once they鈥檙e deemed eligible for a U Visa, even if they have to wait years for the visa itself to become available. This permit is a huge deal鈥攏ot just because it allows people to work legally, but because it protects them from getting deported until their visa comes through.
BeforeOrozcogot her work authorization, she says, it felt impossible to leave Miguel.
鈥淗e knew I didn鈥檛 have papers, so he took advantage of it," she says. "He鈥檇 say, 鈥榊ou have to put up with me because you have three kids. Where are you going to find work? You鈥檙e here illegally.鈥欌��
LeslyeOrloff, director of the National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project, saysOrozco鈥檚experience is common. 鈥淲e know that a significant portion of U Visa victims remain in the abusive relationship until they receive work authorization,鈥� she says.
Orloff helped write the U Visa law back in 2000. Now, she works with lawyers, judges and law enforcement officers from around the country on this issue. She says the long wait has had similar consequences for women who are abused by employers.
鈥淰ictims continue working in abusive work environments. We know of cases where victims of rape in the workplace have been raped again while they were waiting," Orloff says.
InOrozco鈥檚case, it took a year to get her work permit. Today, applicants can wait more than two years. By the latest tally, there are 62,000 applications pending.
鈥淭his is the worst that I've ever seen it in my over a decade of practice,鈥� saysElissaSteglich, who runs the Immigration Clinic at the UT School of Law. 鈥淲e're in a bit of a crisis, and the people who are suffering are the immigrants who Congress intended to protect.鈥�
Like lots of applicants,Orozcoheard about the U Visa through a friend. As word gets out, more and more people are applying.
鈥淭he past several years there have been breakthroughs in outreach in Central Texas for sure,鈥� says Robert Painter, who runs Austin-based non-profit immigration services provider American Gateways. 鈥淎s people saw success with their cases, word spread.鈥�
Painter says the long wait times have consequences for him and other immigration attorneys, too. His agency can鈥檛 take on as many new cases now, because they have all these old cases to keep track of. They鈥檙e having a hard time finding the pro bono attorneys to take on these cases, too, because people are reluctant to commit to a process that can take up to six years.
He says he鈥檒l keep helping people apply, though, and so will attorneys across the country.
鈥淯nless something changes,鈥� he says, 鈥渢he backlog will keep growing.鈥�
Lifting the 10,000 limit is up to Congress, so nobody鈥檚 optimistic that will change anytime soon. ButSteglichand other advocates say there is something to be done: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that handles visa applications, should make sure there are enough officers to review applications.
That,Steglichsays, will help those on that long wait line "move forward with their lives," with a work permit in hand.
鈥淭hey say it's a priority. They have done a great job generally, historically, in prioritizing and protecting victims,鈥漁rloffsays of the agency. 鈥淏ut, at this moment, the leadership has changed, and they are prioritizing other issues that are drawing resources toward other cases, and that is causing the delay in U Visas.鈥�
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wouldn鈥檛 comment for this story, but when applications have piled up in the past, they鈥檝e been able to end the backlog. Advocates say it鈥檚 鈥� at least in part 鈥� a matter of resolve. And, for people in the situation MariaOrozcowas in three years ago, it could make a huge difference.
Orozco didn鈥檛 leave Miguel right away, but it didn鈥檛 take long once she started saving money.
鈥淲hen I got my work permit, he saw that he couldn鈥檛 control me as much,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 started to feel independent, to feel that I was worth more than before. I decided to leave him. I didn鈥檛 have a reason to put up with a man who was going to be mistreating me all the time anymore.鈥�
Steglichand her students want the same outcome for all their U Visa clients. They鈥檝e asked the government to give them more detailed backlog numbers and information about how it decides which cases to prioritize in hopes of helping to find a solution. They鈥檙e not expecting a response anytime soon.
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