Woman "faked" violent Twin Cities robbery to obtain U visa, police say
Police in Bloomington, Minnesota, say two people staged a violent robbery to change their immigration status.
A violent attack in broad daylight at a gas station in Bloomington, caught on video. In March, the woman in that video showed us her injuries and said she and her daughter were living in fear.
"A woman had said a guy dragged her out of her car put a gun to her stomach with her 5-year-old kid in the car and took her purse and ran off," said Chief Booker T. Hodges.
The suspect left this sweater behind. DNA results led police to a suspect earlier this month.
When police caught up with the suspect, they learned of stunning development.
"When we got his phone we realized that in his phone he had communications with the alleged victim in this case," said Hodges.
Hodges say both admitted to staging the attack in order to file for a U nonimmigrant visa or "U visa."
Immigration attorney Nadia Roife says a U visa allows undocumented people to stay in the U.S. with a path to citizenship if they are a victim of crime.
"One of the other reasons why people want it is you won't see a decision from the government for about eight to nine years on your actual application. The government reviews your application to make sure its bonified and very expeditiously issues a work permit," said Roife.
The FBI says they are seeing an increase in purported victims paying to be robbed like this. They arrested a half-dozen people for running a similar scheme in Chicago last year.
But Hodges does not want this incident to stop people from reporting real crimes.
"We in law enforcement still view the U visa as a valuable tool because we want people in the community who are undocumented. If you are a victim of a crime or if you witness a crime we still want them to feel comfortable cooperating with law enforcement," Hodges said.
The alleged attacker has been turned over to federal authorities. No word on what will happen to the "fake" victim and her daughter.
