Agency for Victims of Immigrant Crime, Promised by Trump, Is Created - New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced the creation of an office to help families that have been the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, part of an effort by President Trump to aggressively crack down on illegal immigration.

Critics of Mr. Trump’s approach say it unfairly takes aim at a population that is less likely to commit crimes than American citizens.

The office, called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, or Voice, will be housed within Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for deportations.

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John F. Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, said the office would offer a voice for crime victims.

“All crime is terrible, but these victims are unique — and too often ignored,” Mr. Kelly said. “These are casualties of crimes that should never have taken place because the people who victimized them oftentimes should not have been in the country in the first place.”

Officials with I.C.E. said the office would provide a hotline for victims and would be staffed by about 21 community relations officers and 27 specialists in victim assistance who would connect crime victims with other resources. Officials did not provide a budget for the office, saying it would be funded with existing resources.

Mr. Trump announced the creation of the office when he signed an executive order on immigration in January.

The new agency seems to duplicate several efforts by some states that already provide information to victims of crimes, including those who are victims of crime by immigrants.

For example, New York and other states have a program called VINE, or Victim Information and Notification Everyday. In New York, the system is run by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and offers notification to victims when offenders are released. The state also has an Office of Victim Services, which receives federal funds and directs victims to social services in their communities.

Mr. Trump’s stance notwithstanding, research shows lower levels of crime among immigrants than among native-born Americans.

Analyses of census data from 1980 through 2010 show that among men aged 18 to 49, immigrants were one-half to one-fifth as likely to be incarcerated as those born in the United States.

Across all ages and sexes, about 7 percent of the nation’s population are noncitizens, while figures from the Justice Department show that about 5 percent of inmates in state and federal prisons are noncitizens.

Critics of Mr. Trump’s stance on crime committed by undocumented immigrants could set a dangerous precedent while leading to a rise in hate crime.

“This just continues the campaign strategy Donald Trump employed to vilify immigrants and identify them with a small number of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants,” said Brent A. Wilkes, chief executive of League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization.

Mr. Wilkes said that creating an office that focused on helping victims of undocumented immigrants left out one group of victims: the undocumented immigrants themselves.

Silvia Pastor Finkelstein, the director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs for the district attorney’s office in Nassau County, N.Y., said her office had certified 140 applications for U visas, which are intended for undocumented immigrants who are the victims of crimes, including domestic violence, in the last year. She said her office had received 46 requests for certification of U visas so far this year.

“We don’t research the status of the defendant, but looking at the cases and their names, I can tell you at least 95 percent are foreign-born, and with undocumented victims,” she said.

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