Ever since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, immigration advocates have warned that his restrictive immigration policies will frighten those without legal status into the shadows. Now, new data collected by WNYC show undocumented immigrants do seem more reluctant to engage with authorities when they've been victimized.
For the past two decades, the U.S. has encouraged undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime, or witnesses to a crime, to step forward. In exchange for cooperating with law enforcement, they can apply for what's called a U visa, which allows them to stay in the country legally and work.
In 2017, 2,664 people applied for U visa certification from New York City agencies and authorities, including the family courts and district attorneys. But last year, that number fell to 2,282 — a drop of 14 percent.
Those numbers don't surprise attorney Terry Lawson, who directs the family and immigration unit for Bronx Legal Services. She works with victims of domestic violence, and said her clients see the growing number of arrests during the Trump administration by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"Everybody is aware of what’s going on," she said, adding that they're now more likely to believe abusive partners who say, "'if you file an order of protection against me, I’m going to call ICE.'"
Victims of domestic violence need to file an order of protection before asking a family court judge to certify their application for a U visa.
Lawson said these victims are also afraid of something else.
"People are regularly telling their attorneys that they’re afraid that they’re going to get arrested," she explained. "They're afraid that ICE is going to be in the courthouses or around the courthouse in the Bronx and this is true in other boroughs as well."
Data collected by the Immigrant Defense Project noted a 17-fold spike in ICE arrests inside and outside New York State courthouses. Only one was documented near a family court, but that was enough to terrify immigrants, said Shani Adess, associate director of the family and matrimonial law unit at the New York Legal Assistance Group.
"One of the things that is new to me, that didn’t exist in this world until 2017 — and particularly in 2018 — is having to speak with our clients who are in family court, or want to be in family court, about whether it’s safe to go there."
Immigrant advocates said this fear of the courts explains the declining number of U visa applications to district attorneys — who handle the biggest share of them, citywide. To cooperate with an investigation, victims or witnesses will eventually have to go to court.
Several of the city's D.A.'s have said they've noticed immigrants are more wary about cooperating with investigations. When asked about the new data on U visas, Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance said he wasn't surprised. He said he hopes more outreach will convince immigrants his office won't report them to anyone.
"We have a very robust community affairs group in our office and they are out in the communities every day in every aspect of Manhattan, every quarter of Manhattan," he said, noting a separate office in Washington Heights and relationships with various consulates. "Hopefully those numbers will reverse themselves. But right now they’re going in the opposite direction."
ICE did not return requests for a comment about whether arrests near courts have led to a decline in the number of applications for U visas. In the past, the agency has said it is necessary to make arrests at courts because New York City‘s so-called sanctuary policies prevent police and jails from turning over immigrants to ICE unless they’ve been convicted of serious offenses.
The NYPD can also certify U visas. Advocates said that's usually after the victim has gone to a district attorney and the case doesn't proceed. They said this lag time could explain why the number of applications received by police has gone up since 2016, though they dipped a little in 2018.
Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has also said the police and other city agencies, including the Administration for Children's Services, are increasing public awareness about the U visa. City Hall touted a record number of both U and T visa (for victims of trafficking) certifications, totaling 863 last year - out of 1162 applications.
But the overall decline in applications in New York mirrors a national trend. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which decides on whether to issue U visas, there were 58,664 applications in fiscal year 2018 (which ended in late September), a drop of 5 percent since the previous fiscal year.
Once an immigrant applies for a U visa, final approval can take several years because only a limited number are granted each year. Advocates said this long waiting period presents one more hurdle for undocumented immigrants frightened of increased ICE enforcement, because the government knows where are and could seek to deport them.
Correction: This story originally said there were 863 U and T visa certification requests to city agencies last year. The city agencies actually certified 853 out of 1162 applications.