An Unlikely Defender of Immigrant Crime Victims Inside the Trump Administration
U.S. Attorney and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro didn't just support U visa protections for crime victims "regardless of their legal status" — she demoted the staffer who refused to process them.
WASHINGTON — Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News firebrand turned U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, turns out to be a defender of U visas — the legal protection that allows undocumented immigrants who cooperate with law enforcement to seek a path to permanent residency. It’s a position that cuts against the grain of the administration she serves, and one she reportedly acted on with unusual force.
According to the Washington Post, Pirro discovered in August that a subordinate in her office had been quietly blocking U visa certifications — essentially stopping the clock on applications from immigrant crime victims who had done everything the system asked of them. She ordered the employee to restart processing immediately. When he refused, she demoted him, replacing him with a veteran victims’ services prosecutor who made clearing the backlog a priority.
Spokesman Tim Lauer put her position on the record without hedging. Pirro, he said, “champions the U visas and believes they’re essential.” He added that she views the issue as being “about victim protection and creating an orderly society where victims are protected [regardless] of their legal status.” That’s the kind of language you’d expect from a legal aid attorney, not someone who built a TV career out of hard-nosed law-and-order rhetoric.
The stakes are real. U visas exist precisely because Congress decided, back in 2000, that public safety depends on immigrant communities trusting law enforcement enough to report crimes. When those certifications stop — whether because of a rogue staffer or a hostile political climate — domestic violence survivors stay silent, trafficking victims stay hidden, and cases go unsolved. The Pirro episode is a reminder that even within this administration, the architecture of immigrant protections occasionally finds an unexpected defender.
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Ansari Doesn’t Need An Invitation
Yesterday, Congresswoman Yasmine Ansari from Arizona turned up unannounced to an ICE detention center in her district. In accordance with federal law and multiple court orders, Ansari was allowed in by agents. This is what she saw in her own words: