Relief For Immigrant Victims
Exploited workers can seek aid

As a legal aid attorney working in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, I have found my surroundings to be full of complexities and paradoxes. With the lure of great opportunity for newly arriving immigrants hoping to achieve the American Dream, there also lies many dark secrets of domestic violence, forced labor, mistreatment and exploitation. Unfortunately, many immigrants are unaware of their rights and fall victim to egregious crimes. They are abused or forced to work with little or no pay, usually at the hands of other more powerful immigrants from their own country. They stay in these situations because they fear being caught and deported or even jailed based on their undocumented status.

Many of these immigrants are attracted to the idea of a good and prosperous life in the U.S. Some enter into marriages that turn abusive, others into bad working conditions involving forced labor and debt bondage. They are trapped — forced to live and work at the whims of their spouses or people who brought them here. Some workers are treated like slaves — forced to do housework, restaurant work, factory work, even sexual acts, to repay costs for their passage to the United States. In many cases, their passports are taken, and oftentimes they are not allowed to go outside their immediate surroundings. They are threatened that they will be arrested due to their status or that their families in Korea will be harmed.

Until even just the mid-1990s, there was little relief available to these victims. In 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which, among other things, provided immigration relief to abused spouses and children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. The family immigration process requires the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident sponsor to “petition” for their family members to obtain lawful status. Many abusers used this as a tool to keep their spouses under their control, preventing them from seeking help or reporting the abuse to the police. These victims were paralyzed in their silence for fear that they would never legalize their status, be deported, and/or be separated from their children. VAWA created a way for these victims to “self-petition” for their own immigration status without the abuser’s cooperation or knowledge. These self-petitioners can also get government benefits and work permits while they wait for the green cards.

In 2000, Congress amended and strengthened VAWA, and created the “T” and the “U” types of visas, specifically for victims of certain crimes who are willing to cooperate with law enforcement. Some of these crimes include domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, trafficking, smuggling, prostitution, involuntary servitude, kidnapping, abduction, false imprisonment, blackmail, extortion, murder and perjury. If eligible and approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service or INS), applicants can receive government benefits and employment authorization for three years. After three years, T and U visa recipients may be able to apply for a green card.