Unintended consequences of visas for victims of serious crime

Following yesterday's post, and still on the topic of incentives, consider this example reported by CWB Chicago back in May:

Federal prosecutors on Friday announced charges against five people in connection with a Chicago-based scheme that staged armed robberies so the purported victims could apply for U.S. immigration visas reserved for legitimate crime victims...

Officials believe hundreds of people, including some who traveled from out of town, posed as customers in dozens of businesses across Chicago and elsewhere, all hoping to win favorable immigration status by becoming “victims” of pre-arranged “armed robberies.”...

Federal prosecutors said on Friday that each. purported “victim” paid “thousands of dollars” for the privilege of being robbed at gunpoint. Ringleaders then instructed the “victims” to be at a certain location at a specific time to be “robbed.”...

After the robberies, the “victims” went to their local police departments to secure documentation that they were the victims of a crime that qualified them to apply for a “U-visa.” That’s an immigration status reserved for “victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in an investigation or prosecution,” federal officials explained Friday. Some relatives of U-visa recipients also qualify for special status. In time, U-visa recipients may qualify for permanent residency.

Obviously, the policy to grant a visa to victims of serious crime was implemented in order to help those victims (as well as crime investigators, since the victims would remain available to provide witness statements and testify if a case goes to trial). The problem is that it changes the costs and benefits of being a victim of crime for those who are not already US citizens, and created unintended consequences.

Being a victim of a serious crime comes with obvious costs, but nothing much in the way of benefits. However, being able to claim a U-visa adds some benefits to being a victim of serious crime (for non-US citizens). That by itself is probably not enough to make someone want to be the victim of a serious crime. But what if they could be a 'victim of a serious crime', without being victimised by the crime? They would gain the benefit of the U-visa, without the psychological costs of being a victim.

Now, if the benefit of the U-visa is sufficiently valuable (and given the number of illegal border crossings into the US each year, it seems like living in the US is pretty attractive), a non-US citizen might even be willing to pay for the 'privilege' of being a 'victim of a serious crime'. And there you have it - an unintended consequence of the U-visa.

[HT: Marginal Revolution]