Threats or perceived threats of serious harm to or physical constraints against any person; a scheme intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform will result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person.
Continued Presence
Allows victims who lack legal status and are assisting law enforcement as potential witnesses to remain in the country for the course of criminal investigation. Through continued presence, victims can receive temporary immigration relief.
Debt Bondage
Status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services or of those of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined.
Federal Law Enforcement Authorization (LEA)
Refers to any federal law enforcement agency that has the responsibility and authority for the detection, investigation, or prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons. Qualified LEAs include, but are not limited to, the offices of the Department of Justice, United States Attorney, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE), United States Marshal Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service of the Department of State. Certification of a person as a “trafficking victim” by a LEA is required by the TVPA before a trafficking victim can apply for the T Visa.
Human Smuggling
Helping someone to illegally cross country borders, often without identification or papers, for financial or material benefit. Smuggling ends with the arrival of the migrants at their destination, whereas trafficking involves the ongoing exploitation of the victims in some manner to generate illicit profits for the traffickers.
Human Trafficking
The use of force, fraud or coercion to bring a person into conditions of extreme exploitation. Trafficking can occur within a country or across international borders and does not have to involve movement. It is a form of modern-day slavery. The definition of human trafficking that the TVPA provides refers to severe forms of trafficking.
Forcing a person to work through threats, harm, physical abuse, restraint or legal retaliation.
Holding someone against his or her will to pay off a debt.
T-Visa
Temporary Visa for which certified trafficking victims can apply. T-Visa holders can apply for permanent residency offer 3 years.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000 (TVPA)
Federal U.S. legislation passed in 2000 that emphasizes the prevention of trafficking, protection of victims and the prosecution of traffickers.
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 2003 (7VPRA)
Among the major provisions of the 7VPRA, it eliminates the requirement that a victim of trafficking between the ages of 15 and 18 must cooperate with the investigation and prosecution of his or her trafficker in order to be eligible for a T-visa; and it allows for siblings of trafficked persons to apply for a T-visa.
