Last week in Washington, D.C., Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced the End U Visa Abuse Act to terminate a program meant to support noncitizen immigrants who are victims of a crime.
The call to end this program comes amid an ongoing crackdown on immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s administration, an issue that continues to divide members of Congress.
The act aims to repeal a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that created the U visa, a temporary legal status for noncitizens who have suffered significant harm and are willing to assist law enforcement in investigating or prosecuting the crime.
However, Rep. Roy said this program, a “well-intentioned tool,” has become a “magnet for fraud” rather than protecting crime victims. Claiming you are the alleged victim of a crime should not be the basis for securing a green card or work permit, he said.
“This broken program undermines the rule of law and encourages further illegal immigration by allowing immigration lawbreakers to claim they are crime victims to potentially qualify for the visa,” Rep. Roy said.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) also supports the act, highlighting that as of June 2025, more than 400,000 U visa petitions were pending at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
As a result of the backlog of applications, Sen. Cotton said “legitimate victims” are forced to wait upwards of 15 years to receive the help they need.
“Meanwhile, USCIS’s policies grant full work authorization and deferred action to hundreds of thousands of applicants, some here illegally with fraudulent claims,” he said.
Yet, other members of Congress argue that the U visa program is one of the few remaining resources supporting immigrants under the current administration.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) said the program makes it possible for non-citizen victims and witnesses to feel comfortable reporting a crime.
“Congress created these visas as a tool to make our communities safer and support the flow of critical information during criminal investigations,” Rep. Panetta said.
Rep. Panetta said the U visa program and others similar to it are essential in creating trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, something he said is more essential now than ever.
“As a former prosecutor and now as a federal representative, I know that strengthening trust with our immigrant communities can be essential to holding criminals accountable and ensuring our overall public safety,” Rep. Panetta said.
