U-Visa Waiting List Challenge Falls on Standing Grounds

An Administrative Procedure Act challenge to the 80,000-name U-visa waiting list was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Nov. 17.

U-visas are given to immigrants who are crime victims and who assist in the crime’s prosecution. The waiting list grew because of administrative problems implementing the program.

The plaintiff lacked standing because the annual number of immigrants who can receive a U-visa is statutorily capped at 10,000, and the remedy he seeks—immediate issuance of U-visas to everyone on the list—isn’t available, the court said in an opinion by Judge Joel M. Flaum (Taylor v. McCament, 2017 BL 413550, 7th Cir., No. 17-1943, 11/17/17