Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)In 2000, Congress established the U visa program with the intention of facilitating cooperation from alleged alien crime victims who might otherwise be reluctant to report crimes by deferring removal for foreign nationals, including illegal aliens, and providing work authorization and a pathway to lawful permanent status for U visa beneficiaries. Nearly all grounds of inadmissibility are waived for U visa applicants. (2)Congress imposed a cap of 10,000 U visas per year. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services created a waitlist that confers immigration benefits without any formal adjudication. Once waitlisted, aliens receive deferred action from removal and other immigration benefits. Additionally, there is no limit to derivative visas issued to qualifying family members. (3)As of June 2025, there are over 400,000 U visa applications currently pending. (4)The U visa program is rife with fraud and abuse and has demonstrated a record of illegal aliens using it to obtain lawful status and work permits to skirt deportation and removal, such as staging fake crimes and making false allegations to remain in the United States and possibly sponsor relatives who may also have unlawful status. (5)According to testimony submitted to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement on June 25, 2025, U visa certifications are routinely rubberstamped, especially in sanctuary jurisdictions like California, where State laws like SB 674 pressure law enforcement agencies to certify U visas unless they affirmatively justify denial. (6)The same testimony found The program allows any illegal alien to secretly accuse a U.S. citizen of a crime and apply for a visa after securing a law enforcement certification. No arrest. No charges. No conviction. Just an allegation—often with no notice to the accused. The process is entirely ex parte, and there is no mechanism for rebuttal. (7)U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services does not track the number of crimes solved through the issuance of a U visa. (8)As an example of sweeping U visa fraud, on July 17, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the indictment of 5 individuals, including 4 active and former law enforcement officers who were charged for bribery, conspiracy to commit visa fraud, and mail fraud, where charged individuals were accused of operating a 9-year scheme of fabricating fake crimes and police reports so aliens who were supposed victims could apply for U visas. (9)On May 17, 2024, the Department of Justice announced the indictment of 6 individuals who allegedly conspired to stage armed robberies in Chicago and the suburbs so that purported victims could apply for U visas. (10)Local law enforcement in Houston, Texas, uncovered a scheme that staged fake robberies at gunpoint for aliens to obtain U visas after a bystander reportedly shot and killed an individual who was pretending to be an armed robber who took the belongings of a couple at a gas station in January 2024, only to discover the purported thief and victims were staging a crime to garner a U visa. (11)In March 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a report examining U visa applications filed between 2012 and 2018, which found that only 5 percent of U visa petitioners reported having lawful immigration status at the time of application. 79 percent reported never having lawful status, and 14 percent said they were visa overstays. (12)The March 2020 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services report also found that 10 percent of U visa recipients had committed immigration fraud, 8 percent reentered the United States illegally after removal, and 6 percent of those approved for the U visa had been ordered removed. (13)On January 6, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General released a report entitled U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ U Visa Program Is Not Managed Effectively and Is Susceptible to Fraud. The report found that as part of the U visa process, applicants must submit the Form I–918 Supplement B, U Nonimmigrant Status Certification, which includes a signature from an authorized agency or law enforcement official certifying the crime happened and attesting to the victim’s cooperation. One of Office of Inspector General’s findings was that it asked 125 law enforcement offices to confirm whether the signature on Supplement B forms certified by their office was that of an authorized signer. The Office of Inspector General found that at least 10 of the 125 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services-approved petitions had forged, unauthorized, altered, or suspicious law enforcement certifications. (14)Additionally, the Office of Inspector General found that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not implement its recommendations regarding fraud in the program. (15)As of April 10, 2026, 10 foreign nationals were indicted for visa fraud conspiracy for allegedly carrying out staged armed robberies of convenience store clerks so they could falsely claim a U visa to remain in the country. (16)Victimization should not be a basis for an immigration benefit. If an alien is a crime victim and is actively cooperating with law enforcement as a witness, the S visa is already available and should be utilized if needed, alternatively, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary can grant humanitarian immigration parole to purported alien crime victims or witnesses on a case-by-case basis if they are needed by law enforcement or are required to testify. (17)Congress should repeal the U visa program in full, as it no longer serves a valid purpose and encourages fraud, rewarding illegal aliens who commit it with the likelihood of a green card and work permit, further enabling lawlessness and illegal immigration, leaving law-abiding American citizens and legal immigrants to deal with the consequences.