The most targeted populations for trafficking are homeless and runaway youths. This includes immigrants smuggled into the U.S., or currently residing in the U.S., who are vulnerable to exploitation due to their undocumented status. Some survivors of human trafficking in the U.S. may be eligible for a type of humanitarian relief called a “T visa” if they meet certain requirements.

A person who meets each of the following general requirements may be eligible for a T visa upon application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

1. Survivor of “severe trafficking” (use of force, fraud, or coercion for sex  trafficking and/or involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery); and
2. Who is physically present in the U.S. on account of trafficking; and
3. Who has complied with any reasonable request by federal, state, or local law enforcement to assist in the investigation or prosecution of such trafficking; and
4. Who would “suffer extreme hardship involving severe and unusual harm upon removal.”

Talk to an experienced immigration attorney about whether your experience meets these requirements. Specific factors—such as the age of the victim, location of the trafficking experience, level of trauma, and evidence available—affect how these requirements must be met by each applicant.

The United States upholds a humanitarian standard when weighing an immigrant’s reasons for fleeing her country for the U.S. The U.S. generally will not return a person to their home country or another country if doing so will bring immediate harm, torture, or death upon the person.

The government will consider factors such as:

1. Serious physical or mental illness of the applicant that necessitates medical or psychological attention not reasonably available in the foreign country;
2. The nature and extent of the physical and psychological consequences of severe forms of trafficking; and
3. The likelihood that the trafficker or another acting on behalf of the trafficker in a foreign country to which the applicant may be removed would severely harm the Applicant.  

Additionally, if a person came to the U.S. escaping any form of persecution that could otherwise qualify the applicant for asylum, the applicant needs only cite the past harm to show extreme hardship.