Anti-Trafficking Project Working to Combat Modern Day Slavery

1. Anti-Trafficking Project Working to Combat Modern Day Slavery

2. Ayuda’s Trafficking Clients Foreign born men, women, and children Both sex trafficking and labor trafficking Cases are identified by: Law enforcement agencies Social service agencies Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Human Trafficking Hotlines Individuals

3. Bangladesh Bolivia Brazil Cameroon Costa Rica El Salvador Ethiopia Guatemala Guinea Honduras India Korea Mexico Mongolia Morocco Pakistan Peru Philippines Romania Rwanda Sri Lanka Thailand Togo Uganda Ukraine Ayuda’s Anti-Trafficking Project Ayuda has assisted clients from:

4. Legal Services • Immigration Relief for Trafficking Victims: • T-visas • U-visas • VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) • Asylum • SIJS (Special Immigrant Juvenile Status) • Criminal prosecutions. • Possible restitution in some cases. • Civil suits

5. Trafficking Defined “Severe Form” of human trafficking is: sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery Note: These definitions are from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 (Public Law 106-386) http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/PL106_386.pdf

6. Trafficking Defined Three different categories of human trafficking: 1) Those under 18 involved in commercial sex; 2) Those 18 or over involved in commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion; and, 3) Those forced to perform labor and/or services in conditions of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery through force, fraud, or coercion.

7. Requirements for a T Visa • Must be a victim of a severe form of trafficking • Must have complied with reasonable requests for assistance with law enforcement EXCEPT if under the age of 18 • Must be physically present in the United States on account of the trafficking • Would suffer extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm if returned to their home country

8. Cooperation with Law Enforcement • If client is under 18 years of age there is no requirement to cooperate with law enforcement. • A Law Enforcement letter or form I-914B (Declaration of Law Enforcement Officer) is considered primary evidence that a client is a victim of a severe form of trafficking. • Following TVPRA 2005, a client’s cooperation with LEA has expanded to also include state law enforcement agencies • Federal Law Enforcement can grant Continued Presence: • Temporary Legal Status for trafficking victim (1-year, can be extended) • Work Permit • Certification letter (eligible for Public Benefits)

9. Physical Presence • Still held in trafficking situation • Recently Liberated • Was a victim of trafficking at some point in the past and whose continuing presence in the United States is directly related to the original trafficking in persons. • If victim leaves the United States, physical presence is broken.

10. Extreme Hardship • Factors include: • Age and personal circumstances • Physical or mental illness for which services are not reasonably available in foreign country • Physical and psychological consequences of trafficking • Impact on applicant of loss of access to US Courts and criminal justice system • Laws, social practices or customs in home country would penalize applicant for being a victim of trafficking • Likelihood of re-victimization and authorities’ willingness and ability to protect applicant • Likelihood that trafficker would severely harm applicant • Civil unrest (as demonstrated by TPS)

11. Benefits for T Visa Holders • Valid for 4 years • Employment Authorization • Family Reunification-can apply for derivatives, including spouses, children, and parents and siblings of minor victims • If over 21, primary applicant can apply for spouse and children. • If 21 or under, primary applicant can apply for spouse, children, parents, and unmarried siblings under 18 years of age. • Eligible for public benefits • Eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency (LPR) after 3 years* • After 5 years as LPR, can naturalize

12. Special Considerations for Children • For T Visa, a child: • Does not have to show force, fraud or coercion if trafficking involved commercial sex • Is not required to assist law enforcement • May use age to show hardship upon removal • Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program • Foster program for trafficked and refugee unaccompanied minors.

13. Health & Human Services Certification • Benefits of Certification: • Eligible for Public Benefits (Medicaid, Food Stamps, Refugee Cash Assistance, etc) • 3 ways for a victim to become certified: • Continued Presence (Law Enforcement) • Office of Refugee Resettlement (Minors) • Successful T Visa application • Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) issues certification: • “Certification Letter” (adults) • “Letter of Eligibility” (minors)

14. What is Special Immigrant Juvenile Status? A form of protection for children who do not have lawful status and who have been abused, abandoned or neglected in the U.S. or abroad. This protection applies to children who have just crossed the border as unaccompanied minors. This protection also applies to children who were brought here as infants by family members and grew up in the United States. This form of protection provides a route for abused, abandoned and neglected children to prevent deportation and places them on a path to U.S. citizenship.

15. Eligibility An immigrant child who is present in the United States • Unmarried and under 21 years old; • who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court OR committed to/in custody of state agency or individual appointed by the state • AND whose reunification with one or both parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under state law. • AND for whom it has been determined that it is not in the child’s best interest to be returned to child’s or parents’ country of nationality/last habitual residence.

16. Benefits of SIJS • Temporary protection from deportation. • Eligibility for URM program once USCIS approves SIJS petition. • Work permit while USCIS adjudicates application for adjustment of status. • Lawful permanent residents may: • Live and work permanently in the U.S.; • Travel outside of the U.S.; • Apply for limited public benefits; • Apply for U.S. Citizenship after 5 years.

17. Risks of SIJS • Denial of the Application and Deportation; • Deportation if SIJS is revoked; • Bar on future family petitions for biological parents.

18. Social Services • Comprehensive Case Management Services • Housing • Food • Clothing • Interpretation • Transportation • Medical Care • Counseling • Education/ESL • Employment

19. Financial Assistance Available to Trafficking Victims United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants: Financial assistance with basic needs DOJ/OJP Grants United States Government Public Benefits: Food Stamps, Health Insurance, Refugee Cash Assistance