Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, where victims—many of them foreign workers—are deceived and coerced into labor and commercial sex acts. Promised a better life in the U.S., they watch their American Dream turn into a nightmare.
After escaping the traffickers, some foreign survivors seek to stay in the country with the United States T visa program, a visa granted to victims of human trafficking for an initial period of up to 4 years and offers the possibility of becoming a lawful permanent resident.
The applications for the T visa have been climbing each year, but many survivors still face significant hurdles due to strict qualifying criteria and a denial rate that fluctuates with different administrations.
Who Are the Victims of Modern-Day Slavery?
Thousands of individuals—including women, minors, and undocumented immigrants—are trapped in this exploitative system, facing challenges that persist long after they escape.
The numbers shown above represent victims who reached out to nonprofits or the National Human Trafficking Hotline and disclosed their information. Many more are not reflected here—some choose not to share their stories, while others never seek help.
As Hotline pointed out on their website, despite the number of 16,544 victims in a year being shocking, “they are likely only a fraction of the actual problem.”
And even for those 16,544 survivors who did reach out, the struggle doesn’t end with seeking help or escaping.
The Road to Recovery: A Difficult Path
After escaping trafficking, survivors often face significant obstacles in achieving financial and societal stability. Challenges await— for foreign workers, the first barrier is nonimmigrant status.
Jean Stockdale, program director at Still Waters, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that assists foreign victims in securing immigration status, shared a case of exploitation by Signal International, Inc.
Traffickers placed ads in newspapers across India and other countries, advertising jobs as welders and pipefitters with promises of a "Green Card opportunity." In search of a better life, workers borrowed money from local lenders to pay the traffickers' fees.
What followed was forced labor under brutal conditions. They were forced into labor trafficking and were kept in rooms with 12 bunk beds, with little hope of escaping. “Their passports were confiscated by the traffickers, and they were kept under guard with a chain-link fence and an armed guard,” Stockdale described.
Eventually, some victims contacted their families, leading to criminal and civil cases against Signal International.
Nonprofits like Still Waters helped survivors secure T Visas, a special nonimmigrant status that allows certain trafficking victims to remain in the U.S. for up to four years. This has allowed many survivors to stay in the U.S. and rebuild their lives.
In the Signal International case, T visas opened the door to a new life for the 500 people involved.
However, many more do not have a chance for a happy ending.
T Visa: A Lifeline with Strings Attached
Each year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can grant up to 5,000 T Visas. However, on average, fewer than 2,000 have been issued annually since 2008.
The number of applications increased significantly after 2022. USCIS stated on their website that the Policy Manual Update on T visas provided more comprehensive guidance, which could be "one possible reason" for the increase in applications, as it made the application process more accessible. However, they also acknowledge that processing times have increased as well.
While the number of applications has been growing year by year, approvals remain far below the 5,000 cap, with many left pending and others denied. This raises the question of whether survivors truly have access to this vital protection.
Although 2024 saw a historic high in approvals and a decrease in denial rates under the Biden administration, it is clear that during Trump's first term, the denial rate was higher. With Trump's second term, uncertainty is growing.
Above are the numbers of applications, but many more do not even apply because the strict qualifying criteria for a T visa make it challenging. One major hurdle is the requirement to cooperate with law enforcement, which many survivors avoid due to fears of arrest or deportation.
Legal representation is also crucial for navigating this process, yet not all survivors have access to it. For instance, survivors in immigration detention face additional barriers, including remote detention locations and fast-tracked court cases, which hinder their ability to access legal representation and apply for the T visa.
A Double-Edged Sword: T Visa Denials and Deportation
While the T visa program protects some survivors, it also puts many at risk of deportation.
In 2018, USCIS began issuing Notices to Appear (NTAs) to some applicants denied a T visa. An NTA initiates the removal process, requiring the individual to appear before an immigration judge.
Before this policy change, a T visa denial did not trigger removal proceedings. The Trump administration’s shift created a direct link between T visa denials and potential deportation.
President Biden revoked the NTA policy in January 2021, blocking the pathway of deportation.
Although no NTA was issued after President Biden revoked the Trump-era NTA policy, now, as we enter the second term of Trump’s administration with harsher immigration policies, the NTA policy may be reinstated.
In fact, organizations like Still Waters are already impacted by Trump's current policy, which withholds critical funding for refugee and immigrant processing and services. As a result, Still Waters' budget was frozen, and all four case managers working with Stockdale were laid off on February 13.
Without funding, organizations can’t support themselves. There will be one less resource for survivors who wish to obtain T visas.
Stockdale noted that the court cases against Trump's freezing of funding for humanitarian aid can take a long time. “We just don't know how much longer we can go on.”
Without resources and support, many survivors face the heartbreaking reality of a second trauma—one of legal battles and an uncertain future in a system that has already failed them once.
