DHS) regulations, policies and training materials on U and T visa certification and will include a discussion of the benefits for law enforcement and prosecutors in following DHS’s recommendations for certification early in the case including in cases that are not ultimately prosecuted. The focus will be strongly on cases of immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and human trafficking but we will also provide an overview of the wide range of crimes that U and T visa covers. We will directly address the array of issues that prosecutors encounter when prosecuting cases involving immigrant crime victims and witnesses in both felony and misdemeanor cases. Many of the U visa covered crimes are misdemeanors and not felonies. The training will also be relevant to patrol officers and police officers responding to and investigating domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, stalking and human trafficking cases in which victims and witness have limited English Limited English Proficiency.

This training is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), and will review the use of innovative approaches that assist law enforcement and prosecutors in using the U & T visa and language access as vital crime fighting tools to hold perpetrators accountable for violent crimes.

This project is collaboration between the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, National Sheriffs’ Association, and Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence Website and is co-sponsored by the Portland Police Department.

The training faculty includes the following:

• Inspector Sgt. Antonio Flores, San Francisco, CA Police Department
• Detective Shelli Sonnenberg, Boise, ID Police Department
• Leslye E. Orloff, Director, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, American University Washington College of Law
• Wendy Lau, Senior Project Manager, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence

All attendees will receive training materials on best practices for language access at crime scene investigations, a U & T visa tool kit, and other valuable screening tools and material.

For more information contact: Rocío Molina: office 240.480.6378 | molina@wcl.american.edu.