The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), also known as the Immigration Bureau, announced on Tuesday, August 4, that a Mexican man living in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area has been sentenced to nearly two years of federal imprisonment for assisting in planning a fake armed robbery scheme to help undocumented immigrants fraudulently obtain U visas in the United States, and has been ordered to forfeit illegal proceeds.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, 37-year-old Jose Luis Morales Salgado pleaded guilty on March 23 to conspiring to fraudulently obtain immigration visas for foreigners. He admitted that some undocumented immigrants or foreign nationals with legal work visas in the United States contacted him and participated in carefully planned “robbery cases” to pose as “victims” in order to apply for U visas (specifically for crime victims).
These foreign individuals paid Morales thousands of dollars. In exchange, he would instruct them to go to a designated location to participate in a staged robbery. Morales was also responsible for recruiting individuals to pretend to be robbers and providing guidance.
In each case, the foreign “victims” would claim their car had broken down and pulled over to the side of the road. Shortly after, another car would appear, with “robbers” wearing masks, waving guns, hitting the “victims” in the head or face, stealing cash, and often firing two shots at their vehicle. Afterwards, Morales instructed these “victims” to falsely report the incident to law enforcement and taught them how to fabricate false reports to enhance the credibility of their U visa applications.
Court documents revealed that a source informed investigators that the number of individuals involved in the so-called “victim” scheme exceeded 100.
Investigators confirmed that there were a total of 11 “robbery cases” that occurred between December 29, 2021, and July 13, 2024, involving 33 so-called “victims”. Eighteen of them had applied for U visas, falsely claiming to be victims of violent crime.
The U visa is established under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, aiming to protect crime victims willing to assist law enforcement. Foreign citizens meeting certain criteria must be victims of specific serious crimes (such as violent attacks, armed robberies) causing physical or mental harm and must have information related to the crime that could assist in investigation or prosecution. Successful applicants can obtain legal work permits and apply for permanent residency (green card) after several years.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford; the investigation involved the Kansas City Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). USCIS provided assistance.
Cases of applying for U visas through fraudulent crimes have occurred in various parts of the United States, such as Chicago and Louisiana, and have been severely cracked down on by USCIS.