What is human trafficking or white slavery / human trafficking?

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Human traffickers recruit or kidnap their victims and force them into “sex work” or “forced labor” that severely affects children, women and even men worldwide and is as lucrative as it is cruel.

Traffickers control their victims through:

• Threats or violence against the victims’ family in their country of origin.
• Threats or violence against the victims.
• Taking the victims’ passports, identification and money from them
• Locking them up
• Using the social or economic status of the victims to lure and control them

Who qualifies for a T visa?

A person who meets each of the following general requirements may be eligible for a T visa:

• Survivor of “severe trafficking” (use of force, fraud or coercion for sex trafficking, abuse or forced prostitution, involuntary servitude, or slavery).
• A person who is physically present in the United States as a result of trafficking.
• That person who has cooperated with any reasonable request by federal, state, or local law enforcement to assist in the investigation or prosecution of such trafficking
• A person who would suffer extreme hardship involving severe and unusual harm upon deportation.

Requirements to prove that you have been a victim and qualify for a T Visa:

Serious physical or mental illness of the applicant requiring medical or psychological care not reasonably available in the foreign country.
The nature and extent of the physical and psychological consequences
The likelihood that the trafficker or other person will act on the trafficker’s behalf in a foreign country to which the applicant may be deported to the applicant’s severe detriment.
In addition, if a person arrived in the United States escaping any form of persecution that would otherwise qualify the applicant as an ‘asylee’.
Demonstrate that he or she made a reasonable effort to report the crime to the police and that he or she cooperated with reasonable law enforcement requests for investigation (if any). There are exceptions to this rule based on the victim’s age and mental and physical competence. It is best to seek advice from an experienced immigration attorney.
Benefits:

Within the relevant period, you can obtain permanent residency and eventually apply for citizenship.

Recommendations:

• If you can, call the police at 911.*
• If you can, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or you can send a text message to 233733, which corresponds to the letters BeFree on your phone.
• Seek help from a non-profit organization such as:
  https://www.benefits.gov/es/benefit/622
  https://www.womenslaw.org/es
  https://bethany.org
• Consult with an experienced immigration attorney about how your case meets these requirements. Specific factors such as the age of the victim, the location where the crime was perpetuated, the level of trauma, and other available evidence such as medical or police records are key to a favorable outcome.