FILE – In this Aug. 17, 2018, file photograph, folks arrive earlier than the beginning of a naturalization ceremony on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami Field Office in Miami. One supposed function of the U visa program is a quicker monitor to citizenship. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

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Wilfredo Lee/AP

FILE – In this Aug. 17, 2018, file photograph, folks arrive earlier than the beginning of a naturalization ceremony on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami Field Office in Miami. One supposed function of the U visa program is a quicker monitor to citizenship. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Wilfredo Lee/AP

Luis Melean remembers his pal stopping in the course of the road screaming, “We’re being mugged!” Two males approached the duo in Memphis, Tenn., with weapons and requested them handy over any money that they had. Neither Melean nor his pal had any.

“It was really scary how close the guns were to us and we thought that night was the end,” Melean mentioned. “But as they walked away, they said, you’re lucky we’re not going to kill you tonight.”

This was not the primary time Melean had encountered one thing like this. When he lived in his residence nation, Venezuela, he bought mugged 3 times in 30 days. It’s one of many causes his household selected to flee Venezuela and search asylum within the U.S. in 2017.

But not like these earlier incidents, the mugging in Memphis appeared to have a silver lining: an opportunity at a visa to remain within the United States.

As a sufferer of against the law within the U.S., he might apply for the U visa, a sort of visa given to immigrant victims of sure crimes that presents a chance for a quicker pathway to citizenship.

That was 4 years in the past, and he is nonetheless ready. He’s not alone.

NPR spoke to 17 U visa candidates, every of whom have been ready for 2 to seven years for his or her visas. They describe a program whose years-long delays put them in immigration limbo, spending months serving to legislation enforcement catch their perpetrators whereas making an attempt to outlive within the nation with out the means to work legally.

“The goal was to be able to hold the crime offenders accountable and at the same time offer help and protection to the victims,” Leslye Orloff mentioned. She was one of many lead drafters of the U visa program when it was created in 2000. “It absolutely was not intended to take that much time.”

The U visa was created as a part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000. It was meant to assist legislation enforcement examine what the federal government calls “serious crimes,” resembling home violence, torture and trafficking.

It additionally is supposed to encourage extra reporting of crime in undocumented immigrant communities, enhancing legislation enforcement/immigrant relationships and providing safety to victims. The legislation set an annual cap of 10,000 visas.

Orloff says this visa is a two-way road. Applicants solely change into eligible for the visa if certifying companies — like legislation enforcement — deem them absolutely cooperative in serving to to catch their perpetrator.

However, there aren’t any requirements defining what being absolutely cooperative means. According to a report revealed by the University of North Carolina School of Law, entry to the U visa relied on the place the crime occurred. Certification insurance policies have been completely different relying on the state, metropolis and county, various from denying all petitions to solely certifying if the perpetrator was caught.

And there’s a big backlog of instances ready to be reviewed. According to the latest report from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees this system, greater than 300,000 U visa functions are pending.

Applicants are normally suggested by legal professionals to not depart the nation, which generally means having to attend, with out the authorized capability to work, for years.

Shelley Johnson is the director of the Survivors’ Project with Mid-South Immigration Advocates, an immigration legislation nonprofit, in Memphis. She says that her purchasers do issues like mow lawns, clear homes or babysit to outlive.

“So most folks who have new visas pending with USCIS are undocumented and are working whatever sort of job they can get,” Johnson mentioned. “It’s not a livable wage and it’s not enough to support a family either.”

An replace was added to the method in 2021, which allowed ready candidates to use for a piece allow. But in accordance with a number of legal professionals who work commonly with U visa candidates, this course of has not considerably helped candidates as a result of it might nonetheless take greater than 4 years to achieve a piece allow.

Orloff mentioned that ready for the U visa places the candidates in a weak place to be revictimized within the office.

“When people are working undocumented, they’re more at risk for sexual assault, sexual harassment, physical abuse, wage theft, all of those kinds of things that are debilitating and dangerous and abusive,” Orloff mentioned.

When Melean was ready for a piece allow, he mentioned he labored 13-hour shifts in a warehouse and bought paid about $9/hour. If he requested for days off, he was requested to not come again, he mentioned.

“Because you don’t have documents, they force you to work,” Melean mentioned. “You don’t really have a voice because you pretty much have to do whatever you can to have a roof over your head and be able to eat.”

Melean bought a piece allow by way of his asylum utility however most U visa candidates do not have that choice.

A 2022 federal report discovered that the U visa program was not being managed successfully and was inclined to fraud. It cited a rising backlog, no system to precisely monitor the variety of visas granted per 12 months and no monitoring of fraud investigations.

Johnson says that congressional change, particularly elevating the ten,000 visa cap, might assist cut back the backlog and assist candidates get work permits quicker.

“I think that the system in itself being so broken is one of the hardest things to deal with,” Johnson mentioned. “So it is sometimes hard to find the motivation to keep doing this work, especially because you file a petition and it just goes into the abyss for half a decade.”

NPR reached out to the USCIS for remark and acquired a press release saying the company is dedicated to restoring religion within the immigration system, and is working to cut back backlogs by opening a brand new visa processing middle earlier this 12 months.

Melean mentioned change cannot come quickly sufficient.

“Being in limbo is like being trapped,” he mentioned. “Every aspect of your life is up in the air, and not being able to get a decent job affects your quality of life.”