CPD has denied hundreds of U visa certification requests from undocumented crime victims this year, many of them at odds with federal certification standards and some that appeared to violate state law. |✍️ ballesteros_312 |injusticewatch👇
after a CPD detective found bystander footage of the incident that contradicted Ternand’s police report, according to a civil lawsuit the man later filed.
One of those denials was for Reyna Mariano, a 40-year-old, undocumented mother from Mexico whose teenage. Under federal law, parents and other immediate family members of deceased minor victims of qualifying crimes can apply for a U visa as an “indirect victim.” In one of those cases, a 43-year-old woman on the south side, who had obtained an order of protection against her former partner, called police after he threw her “onto the ground multiple times” according to a police report. Ternand denied her certification, saying she hadn’t suffered “substantial physical harm.
“That’s wrong—‘Simple assault–domestic related’ is domestic violence,” Orloff said. “Each of these officers are doing things that are dead wrong on the law.” The following year, the Illinois General Assembly passed the VOICES Act, which set statewide guidelines on U visa certifications. The law requires law enforcement agencies to recertify U visa applicants whose initial certification had expired. Under federal law, the certifications expire after six months, but immigrants and their lawyers often need more time than that to file their U visa applications.
Flynn forwarded the email to Elena Gottreich, Lightfoot’s deputy mayor of public safety, who sent it to CPD chief of staff Leslie Silletti and Tina Skahill, the department’s executive director of constitutional policing and reform. “This has been an issue for years, we need to address asap,” Gottreich wrote.
Still, the questionable denials kept coming, attorneys said. In an email sent to Willman on October 19, an immigration attorney wrote, “We received a second denial after I appealed the U cert[ification] denial to CPD—it’s very generic and does not even indicate that CPD reviewed my arguments.” “There are definitely people out there who have gotten a denial over the past year who may just give up,” she said.The mayor’s office declined a request for an interview with Willman and Flynn. In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said that when “concerns were raised to her office about U visa certification denials, the mayor ordered a review of the application process.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chicago police shoot man accused of shooting at neighbors in West Pullman, CPD saysA Chicago police officer was involved in a shooting on 126th Street in West Pullman Wednesday evening, CPD said.
Read more »
Hey, it's getting warm in here! - Chicago ReaderClimate breakdown is a problem that requires collective action at the federal and international levels...that’s going to mean shedding our entrenched myths of heroic individualism.-Peter Friederici |✍️ DeannaIsaacs👇
Read more »
We keep us safe - Chicago ReaderThis exhibition is a much needed reminder of our interconnectedness in the face of the toxic individualism touted by much of contemporary American culture. It explores the increasing overlaps between […]
Read more »
Family style - Chicago Reader'Not only does dressing up show regard for people you meet, it causes propulsive explosions of energy.' -Alanna Zaritz, Pilsen resident on her approach to fashion and style. |✍️ Isa Giallorenzo👇
Read more »
The reinvention of indie music, chapter one - Chicago Reader🎸90's Chicago indie rock evolved so rapidly in so many directions that it changed the world of music permanently. BruceMAdams was there, as cofounder of krankyltd, and we've got an excerpt of his book, 'You're With Stupid.'| ✍️pmontoro👇
Read more »