WPR: What are the most notable of those actions?

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the release of 2019 Trafficking in Persons report at the State Department, June 20, 2019. Reuters

Vandenberg: First is the T visa, which is an immigration status created by Congress with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000. It provides immigration relief for foreign-born trafficking victims who are in the United States. In the past, human trafficking victims could apply for the T visa and do so without fear of deportation. The Trump administration has now changed the policy, so if you apply for a T visa and you are denied for any reason, you will receive a notice to appear [before an immigration judge], which is the initiation of deportation proceedings against you.



That is a game-changer, and it totally changes the analysis of whether or not it's worth it for any trafficking victim to cooperate with law enforcement. As a result, you see a significant decline in the number of trafficking prosecutions. In fiscal year 2017, there were a total of 282 federal prosecutions for human trafficking in the entire country. In 2018, that number fell by 29%, to 230 prosecutions.



The Trump administration is also slow-rolling all T visa applications. We have the largest backlog of T visa applications in history, and last year, the government only approved 580 T visas in the entire country—the lowest level since 2010. That's out of 1,600 applications. These drops are reflected in data provided by the US government. So, at least there's transparency. They are transparently destroying protections for trafficking victims.



We used to be able to say to trafficking survivors, "You can get this visa in approximately 12 months." Under the Trump administration, that adjudication period has crept up, and is now approaching three years. During that time, trafficking victims are in a kind of hellish limbo. Under those circumstances, how can anyone cooperate? And frankly, why would anyone come forward?