Law Officials to Receive Training On Visa Meant to Aid Crime Victims

Special Pass Grants Temporary Legal Status to Some Illegal Immigrants

Montgomery County prosecutors and law enforcement agencies will get a lesson this month in the intricacies of special visas that give legal status to illegal immigrants who are victims of certain crimes.

The April 16 seminar on using what are called U-visas as a tool against domestic violence is being arranged by victim advocates, who fear that the defense tactics of a case in January could signal a trend to discredit as opportunists those who are candidates for the federal protection.

"I hope that the state will learn how to fight it better," said Vivian Levi, domestic violence coordinator for the county's Abused Persons Program. "I just don't know how the judges will handle it."

The U-visa provision grants four years of legal status for victims of domestic violence, sex crimes, human trafficking and other offenses. Those approved for the visas can then apply for permanent status. U-visas must be endorsed by a law enforcement agency involved in the investigation or prosecution of the crime.

For two days in Circuit Court in January, a 49-year-old Montgomery Village woman, an illegal immigrant from Central America, was questioned by the attorney for her former boyfriend, Manuel Donis-Davilla, who was charged with attempted first-degree murder. The attorney, Mary Tyler, tried to keep the woman from testifying and to discredit her as an opportunist attempting to secure a U-visa.

After endorsing 13 U-visas in 2006 and 11 in 2007, the Montgomery State's Attorney's Office has recorded nine such cases this year. (A Montgomery police spokeswoman said she knew of three instances in which her department had endorsed U-visas. Two were for the husbands of victims in the 2002 sniper attacks, she said.)

As the numbers of U-visa cases increase, law enforcement agencies need to be well versed in its requirements and ready to rebut attempts to discredit victims "and not allow anything that has to do with undocumented immigrants and the U-visa to sway the case," Levi said.

The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank that favors strict enforcement of immigration laws, holds that legal status should be reserved only for the most extreme cases and urges law enforcement agencies to be circumspect and guard against false claims.

"It definitely happens," said Jessica Vaughn, a senior policy analyst for the center. "Clearly there are some people that definitely qualify. But as in every situation, there are going to be people who try to take advantage of it."

Donis-Davilla was found guilty of attempted murder and is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. He is due to be sentenced this month. His victim has been granted a U-visa.