Years ago, Rosa watched from inside the car as men robbed her husband at gunpoint, shortly after they’d arrived in Minnesota from Guatemala.

The couple had a pending asylum case, but once they reported the crime to the police, they were eligible for a U visa, which provides a path to legal permanent residency for victims of and witnesses to serious crimes — and, in some cases, their immediate family members. At her request, the Reformer is using Rosa’s first name to protect her from government retribution.

Rosa is among dozens of people who were detained by immigration authorities during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, despite having permission to live and work in the United States because they were victims of a crime and reported it to the police.

One man survived a shooting in 2019 that took him out of work for six months and left him permanently disabled. Another was stabbed in the leg during a 2016 robbery in Minneapolis. Others survived human trafficking, felony assaults and armed robberies.

In one case, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents broke down a family’s front door and arrested all three people inside — without a warrant, according to the lawsuit.

The Reformer analyzed more than 1,100 habeas corpus petitions — federal lawsuits challenging a person’s detention — filed in Minnesota between December and mid-March and identified at least 75 people who were detained by immigration agencies despite having been granted work permits and deportation protections allowed to crime victims.

That number is likely an undercount. Many immigrants did not have access to attorneys for long stretches, couldn’t afford legal fees, or were shipped out of state before their lawyers could file the lawsuit in Minnesota.

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The arrest of immigrant crime victims undercuts a public safety tool created by Congress to combat crime and strengthen relationships between immigrants and law enforcement agencies. The shift in policy, however, fulfills a longstanding Republican goal to roll back the protections provided to immigrants under the program.

When Congress formalized the U visa program as part of a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, members of both political parties agreed on the need for a law protecting undocumented victims of crimes. The U visa is an expanded version of the T visa, which offers protections for undocumented victims of human trafficking.

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Republican politicians have long criticized the U visa program, arguing that the list of qualifying crimes — blackmail, domestic violence, obstruction of justice and felonious assault among them — is too broad. In 2012, when the Violence Against Women Act was up for renewal, GOP members of Congress soured on the legislation in part because of its protections for immigrant crime victims.

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Project 2025, the roadmap for President Donald Trump’s second term, called for the total elimination of U and T visas.

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A coalition of California-based immigrants and activist organizations sued ICE in October over its treatment of people with pending U and T — trafficking — visas.

“ICE now routinely detains and deports people who have valid grants of deferred action from USCIS in connection with pending U or T visa petitions,” according to the lawsuit.

The Trump administration has found other ways to slow down the process of obtaining the visas or associated work permits: delaying confirmation of receipt of applications, prolonging processing times and nitpicking applications, according to the lawsuit and interviews with immigration attorneys.

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For many families, the damage is already done.

After their series of flights and holding cells, Rosa and her 6-year-old daughter arrived at the processing center of the South Texas Family Detention Center in Dilley. They spent 26 days in detention before a judge ordered their release.

Every member of her family is still terrified. They’ve relied on support from staff at her daughter’s school to make ends meet. Her daughter complains of her chest hurting — possibly from anxiety, Rosa said — and can’t sleep.

“My daughter still hasn’t recovered from this,” Rosa said, her voice shaking. She hasn’t recovered, either.