For years, Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) worked with now-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin in Congress. Now with Mullin in his new role, Cotton wants to continue working with him to crack down on abuses of America’s immigration system.
Cotton, one of the Senate’s longest-standing hawks on illegal immigration, wrote to Mullin about the “U visa program that appears to operate as a de facto amnesty program for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens.”
In a letter to Mullin obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, Cotton noted to the new DHS Secretary that “Congress originally created this program to assist law enforcement with investigating and prosecuting serious crimes. Instead, criminal illegal aliens are reportedly exploiting loopholes to gain permanent legal status.”
The move by Cotton follows a series of instances in which “criminal organizations have reportedly staged fake crimes so fraudsters can qualify for U visas.” In one such case, he noted, “eleven Indian nationals staged armed robberies at convenience stores so store clerks could falsely claim they were victims of a crime on their immigration applications.”
Cotton further criticized states run by potential 2028 contenders, Govs. JB Pritzker (D., Ill.) and Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.). “ Illinois and California passed state laws which require their law enforcement agencies to presume all U visa claims are valid and sharply limit officer discretion,” he added.
His letter makes it clear that the scale of the fraud’s problem. “As of June 2025, more than 400,000 U visa petitions remain pending at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), even though Congress limits approvals to 10,000 principal visas per year,” Cotton explained. “This massive backlog forces legitimate victims, especially women and children fleeing domestic violence and sexual assault, to wait six to ten years for relief, with some forced to wait more than 15 years. Meanwhile, USCIS’s policies grant full work authorization and deferred action to hundreds of thousands of applicants, some here illegally with fraudulent claims.”
“79 percent had never held lawful status and many had prior deportation proceedings,” Cotton said. “Another DHS Office of the Inspector General report found that 66 percent of U visa applications rested on closed criminal cases, meaning applicants could not possibly assist law enforcement as is the intent of the program. These applicants are likely able to work and receive benefits solely because they applied for a U visa. Many law enforcement agencies report that the program provides little prosecutorial benefit while imposing heavy administrative burdens.”
Cotton, one of the Senate’s top Republicans, further “commend[s] President Trump for his strong leadership in defending our homeland by aggressively deporting criminal illegal immigrants and restoring law and order. The failures within this program undermine law enforcement, burden state and local police, and leave genuine crime victims waiting years for justice.”
Cotton wants Mullin’s answers on two questions: “what, if any, new or modified authorities does DHS require to close loopholes within the U visa program?” as well as “how can Congress assist in reducing the backlog of more than 400,000 U visa petitions?”