Beaverton police approved five of 19 requests from immigrant crime victims seeking U visa certifications in 2025.

The Beaverton Police Department's 26% approval rate was below the 77% statewide average tracked by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, which released its annual report in August 2026. The department did not respond to inquiries about the gap, OPB first reported on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

U visas are a federal program created by Congress in 2000 to protect immigrants who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and other crimes, provided they cooperate with law enforcement. A certification from local police is the first step in the application.

The certification confirms the crime qualifies and that the victim has been helpful to investigators. The certification does not grant the visa; that decision rests with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Beaverton was not alone in Washington County. The Hillsboro Police Department approved six of 28 requests, and the Washington County Sheriff's Office approved four of 15, with three still pending when the commission released its report. The three agencies combined for a 24% approval rate.

The Washington County District Attorney's Office, by contrast, approved 85 of 120 requests, roughly 71%.

Advocates said the certifications are critical to public safety. Mercedes Elizalde, director of advocacy at Latino Network, told OPB the program helps police build trust with immigrant communities. She said officers who deny certifications may be applying criteria not required by federal guidelines, as Portland police did before receiving training reforms.

"This is one of those ways that we make it possible for community members to stay present in the local community to provide that support for investigation," Elizalde told OPB.

Portland offers a contrast. The Portland Police Bureau approved 192 of 207 requests in 2025 after Latino Network helped the bureau overhaul its training. Before those reforms, Portland officers had misinterpreted the federal "helpfulness" requirement, according to OPB's reporting.

Attorney Patrick Sherwood, who represented a 17-year-old assault victim whose certification was denied twice by Portland police before the city ombudsman intervened in 2022, told OPB that agencies like Beaverton and Hillsboro lack an ombudsman's office.

Beaverton's immigrant community faces heightened federal enforcement. An Oregonian/OregonLive analysis found the city ranked third statewide for federal immigration arrests per capita, with 199 arrests from January 2025 through Aug. 5, 2026. Washington County accounted for 33.5% of statewide ICE arrests from July through December 2025, according to Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition data cited by OPB.

Across Oregon, immigrant crime victims filed 897 U visa certification requests in 2025, up from 712 in 2024, according to the commission report. Law enforcement approved 687.

Retired state Rep. Jeff Barker, a Democrat from Aloha and a chief sponsor of the 2019 bill requiring Oregon agencies to report certification data, told OPB the numbers demand attention. "There's a large Hispanic community out here for sure," Barker said. "We need to protect the victims."

The commission's reporting requirement, established under Senate Bill 597, is set to expire on Jan. 2, 2027. Without renewal, public tracking of these approval rates would end.