CHAMPIONING U VISAS

Zurita didn't retaliate, even though fellow inmates chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight!""I got up and looked at him and just walked away because I rely on the police officers to fix that stuff," Zurita said.He was deported in 2010. But because of his cooperation with authorities in the assault case, Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor signed the certification in 2011 that allowed Zurita's application to be considered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In November 2012, Zurita was permitted to re-enter the country.Taylor is an elected official who well understands the divided politics of immigration. But he makes no bones about having certified 123 U visa applications since 2010.

"These are victims of crimes," Taylor said. "I don't think anybody in this grand world deserves to be abused, battered or harmed in any way. It's a fundamental tenet."Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson says that the fear of deportation means crimes go unreported, and that such lawlessness hurts the entire'munity."I want the word out that if you cooperate with the police, they're not going to deport you ... in fact, there are certain benefits if you are the victim of a personal crime whether you're a citizen or not," Masterson said.In June, Masterson was among nine law enforcement executives who met in Washington, D.C., to help develop a model U visa certification policy for submission to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The U visa was enacted in 2000, but regulations weren't in place until 2007.

"There is very inconsistent utilization of the law by law enforcement," said Maria Andrade, whose Boise law firm helped pioneer U visa applications in southern Idaho.Some departments consider only cases of domestic violence, the largest source of applicants, Andrade said. "I think some of the purported policy reasons are in part due to residual feelings that we shouldn't be doing things to help noncitizens," she said.In Meridian, Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea said the police department shies from using the program. "Immigration is the federal government's job," Basterrechea said. "As a general rule, we just don't sign those. We're reluctant to get involved in this whole thing."