Can reporting a crime in the United States be considered a law enforcement record?
Immigration attorney Scott Decker highlighted a case in which USCIS denied an applicant a STEM OPT extension because the person had “law enforcement interactions.” The agency did not disclose what the law enforcement interaction was, but Decker said he knew his client had called police after being assaulted on the street.“In short, USCIS’s position is that being a victim of a crime and seeking help from the police is a bad thing and will make you ineligible for any discretionary benefits, such as an extension of status in the United States,” Decker wrote in his LinkedIn post.“I suspect/hope that USCIS officials are just being lazy and see a client’s name appear on a police report in their system and then stop looking at it. Hopefully USCIS will come to their senses after receiving a response to the NOID. If not, we may need to seek relief in federal court.”A NOID is a Notice of Intent to Deny, which is a former letter from USCIS in which they state that they plan to deny the application unless further evidence is provided. A response period of 30 days is usually given.Decker said it was a crazy situation for immigration authorities, but he couldn’t say it was the first time something like this had happened.“About 10 years ago, a client was denied a visitor visa in Paris due to fraud. The consular officer claimed that my client lied about never being arrested, and the officer presented our client with a police report that supported this allegation. We explained that our client was a witness to the crime, not the perpetrator, and that the police report page only reflected the statement our client gave to police about what he witnessed,” Decker wrote, citing an example.“So, clearly the client did not lie to the consulate and there was no fraud. What did the consulate do? After months of back and forth, they issued an updated denial stating that the client lacked non-immigrant intent, which is a basis that cannot be reviewed by a court. Not only would they not admit that they made a mistake in the original denial, they also made sure that no one else could point out their mistake,” the post concluded.
