SFPD Moving to Help Crime Victims in the Country Illegally Get a Visa

By Lauren Smiley

The San Francisco Police Department has stalled for the better part of 2008 in signing U-visa applications for immigrants in the country illegally who have become the victims of crime. (Read our piece on the wait in this week's paper.) Police said they were just waiting to approve an official policy. Community advocates allege the SFPD fears being held liable for green-lighting anybody to stay in the country in case he or she would commit a future crime - just like juvenile probation department has been blamed for shielding two young felons now charged with murder from possible deportation under a now-sacked interpretation of the sanctuary ordinance.

But now police said they are about to move forward with signing the applications. Captain David Lazar, the head of the SFPD's Juvenile and Family Services division, has been appointed to make the decision to sign the form indicating the immigrants have been the victim of a crime and have, are, or are likely to be helpful in the investigation. He says he's got the 10 applications that have been waiting at the department for months, and a half dozen more were mailed to him this week from Bay Area Legal Aid, an organization that has aided U-visa applicants. He hopes to start reviewing the applications on Monday.

"We don't want to wait any longer," Captain Lazar said. "We want to move forward on this."

Lazar will be handling all applications for victims of all crimes, not just domestic violence related.

The final details of the protocol on whether or not to sign off on the applications is still awaiting approval, and Lazar said he couldn't share details about how the individual's past criminal history would weigh in on his decision.  

Victims advocates argue that the police's role is only to say if the person has cooperated in the investigation, not to decide whether a person deserves to stay. (The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services makes that decision.)

Yet Lt. Dan Mahoney, the head of the SFPD's legal division, says the department will be more discerning that that: "The U-visa certification is not a rubber stamp... The sign off is basically the department's support that this person should stay in the country for three years. We just want to make sure of who we're recommending to stay in the country."