Human Trafficking Victims
IF YOU ARE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER, CALL 911
National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline 1 (888) 373-7888
National Human Trafficking Referral Directory
Overview of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. It is a crime that involves the use of force, fraud or coercion
to recruit, harbor, transport, provide or obtain a person for the purposes of sexual or labor exploitation. Victims
of human trafficking are young children, teenagers, men and women. Approximately 800,000 victims annually are
trafficked across international borders worldwide, and between 14,500 and 17,500 of those victims are trafficked
into the United States (U.S.), according to the U.S. Department of State. After drug dealing, trafficking humans is
tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and is the fastest growing.
Many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or the sex entertainment industry; but
trafficking also occurs in forms of labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude, restaurant work, janitorial
work, sweatshop factory work, and migrant agricultural work.
Traffickers use various techniques to instill fear in victims and to keep them enslaved. Some traffickers keep their
victims under lock and key. However, the more frequent practice to use less obvious techniques include:
- Debt bonding – financial obligations, honor-bound to satisfy debt;
- Isolation from public – limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any contact is monitored or
superficial in nature;
- Isolation from family members and members of their ethnic and religious community;
- Confiscation of passports, visa and/or identification documents;
- Use or threat of violence toward victims and/or families of the victims;
- The threat of shaming victims by exposing circumstances to family;
- Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact authorities; and
- Control of the victims’ money, e.g., holding their money for “safe keeping".
In October 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) made human trafficking a Federal crime. It
was enacted to prevent human trafficking overseas, to protect victims and help them rebuild their lives in the U.S.,
and to prosecute traffickers of humans under Federal penalties. Prior to 2000, no comprehensive Federal law existed
to protect victims of trafficking or to prosecute their traffickers.
Benefits and Services Available
Trafficking victims and their eligible family members may receive benefits and services as provided under the TVPA
and Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA) to the same extent as refugees. These
benefits and services are federally-funded and individuals must be certified as trafficking victims by the federal
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). To receive certification, victims of trafficking must be willing to assist
with the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases and have completed a bona fide application for a T Visa
or have received continued presence status from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in order to contribute to
the prosecution of human traffickers.
Once they have met these certification requirements, victims of trafficking will receive an official letter of
certification from the ORR. Eligible family members of trafficking victims must hold a Derivative T Visa. Children
victims of trafficking under the age of 18 do not need to be certified in order to receive services and benefits.
The ORR issues a letter stating that a child is a victim of a severe form of trafficking and is therefore eligible
for benefits.
In addition to federal program benefits under TVPRA, there is a state-funded program for trafficking victims who have
not yet been certified by the ORR. Senate Bill 1569 (Chapter 672, Statutes of 2006) extended eligibility for
benefits and services to noncertified victims of human trafficking and other serious crimes to the same extent as
refugees, effective January 1, 2007. For more information and eligibility requirements for the state-funded
Trafficking and Crime Victims Assistance Program (TCVAP), see All County Letter No. 06-60 or the Refugee Programs
Bureau
Human Trafficking Fact Sheet.
Benefits and services available to certified trafficking victims and other victims eligible for the TCVAP, and their eligible family members, include cash assistance, food assistance, medical
assistance, and social services to assist with adjustment and facilitate self-sufficiency. These individuals must
still meet income and resource requirements.
Minors who are in the U.S. and are identified as a trafficking victim by the ORR are eligible to participate in the
Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program. The URM program provides foster care and resettlement services to
minors who are refugees, asylees or trafficking victims, and are in the U.S. alone without a parent or close
relative willing or able to care for them. In California, minors are served in the URM program through Catholic
Charities of Santa Clara County (Northern Region) and Crittenton Services for Families and Children in Orange County
(Southern Region) who works in partnership with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.
Human Trafficking and other crimes programs in other California State Agencies
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working with Victims of Human Trafficking In California
NGOs are community-based organizations that support victims of human trafficking in California. A list of California
agencies identified by the Office of the Attorney General can be found on their human trafficking webpage, “
Getting Help for Victims.”