Courts should be a sanctuary space for T-Visa applicants to be safe from ICE & deportation

October 9, 2020

Guest blogger: Meghan O’Day, law student, University of San Francisco

Trafficking Visa’s (“T-Visa”) are supposed to be a recognition to survivors of human trafficking that the trauma they experienced is not okay, that we stand by them, and that they have suffered enough and nonimmigrant status in the United States should not a barrier they continue to face. Every year an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 victims are trafficking into the United States.[1] In 2000, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, but since its inception the Trump administration has made visa approval more difficult, and has eliminated many protections against deportation – making it more high risk for trafficking victims to even apply in the first place.[2]

Starting November 19, 2018, USCIS was able to begin issuing Notices to Appear (“NTA”) to begin the removal process based on denials of T-Visas.[3] This, in effect, retraumatizes and revictimizes victims of human trafficking by fearing coming forward for fear that if they are denied a T-Visa, they will be placed in removal proceedings. How can we do this to a group of survivors that has already endured more than anyone should ever have to, and already face so many barriers in coming forward in the first place due to fear of retaliation by their trafficker? Not to mention the fact that they have to relive their trauma every time they have to retell their story.

Under the Obama Administration, about 73 percent of applicants were granted T-Visas, compared to around 50 percent under the Trump Administration.[4] I can only assume that Trump’s strict immigration enforcement policies have something to do with this decline in T-Visas granted. Besides the concern that T-visa applicants who are denied may be granted NTA’s is the concern about the lingering presence of ICE officials at and outside the courthouse.[5] This is not only incredibly traumatizing and fear-inducing, but it discourages victims from applying at all in the first place.

Courts should be a sanctuary space, free from fear of deportation if their claim is denied, and free from fear of physical intimidation by the mere presence of ICE. Not only do these barriers diminish a victim’s willingness and confidence in applying for a T-Visa in the first place, but they will decrease the successful prosecution of these trafficking cases – since one of the goals of passing the TVPA in the first place was to aid the government in their prosecution. Obviously, it is much more difficult to successfully prosecute a case without the victim.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/human-trafficking-in-the-us-facts-statistics-2019-7#it-is-estimated-that-between-18000-and-20000-victims-are-trafficked-into-the-united-states-every-year-6

[2] https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article245622580.html

[3] https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/other-resources/notice-to-appear-policy-memorandum

[4] https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-strict-immigration-laws-exacerbate-human-trafficking-in-the-us/

[5] https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/479034-government-immigration-policies-are-harming-trafficking-survivors