for many foreign national victims of
human trafficking,
it all started with the promise of a
good job in the united states.
but the traffickers don't fulfill this
promise.
traffickers often use the threat of
arrest and deportation to keep victims
fearful
and controlled. even after you come in
contact with victims
and are investigating their traffickers,
the victim's fear can linger.
their trauma is acute, and they have a
great need for social services to get
back on their feet.
the fear, trauma, and need for recovery
can sometimes prevent
or delay victims from reporting their
trafficker and cooperating with law
enforcement,
yet the victims are essential in
building cases against their traffickers.
how, then, can you simultaneously assist
the trafficking victim
and build the foundation for a
successful investigation?
the answer is continued presence.
the department of homeland security
wants you to be aware of this law
enforcement tool,
which can help you bolster your human
trafficking investigations.
it helps you use a victim-centered
approach, which places equal value on the
needs of the victim
and the investigation.
continued presence is a discretionary
tool for law enforcement
which allows eligible foreign nationals
to remain in the united states
temporarily
to facilitate an investigation or
prosecution of the human trafficking
related crimes committed against them.
the designation can allow a victim to
remain for the duration of the criminal
case,
as well as a federal civil action, and
alleviates their concern about removal
from the united states.
with continued presence, a trafficking
victim may remain temporarily in the
united states for two years.
extensions may be granted in increments
of up to two years
as long as the victim remains compliant
with the conditions of continued
presence.
victims with continued presence receive
a work permit at no cost to them
or the law enforcement agency. the
ability to work
legally in the united states helps to
ease victims' worries about economic
support.
victims may also be eligible for
federally funded benefits and services
to the same extent as refugees.
such benefits and services include
refugee cash
and medical assistance, the matching
grant program,
the public housing program, and job corps.
in many cases, the victims will receive
services from non-governmental
organizations,
which will assist them in accessing
these benefits and services.
these are all crucial to a victim's
recovery and successful participation
in an investigation and prosecution.
continued presence is meant specifically
for foreign nationals who are victims of
human
trafficking, and may be applied to all
foreign national victims associated with
the case.
the key requirements are that federal,
state, or local law enforcement
must identify a foreign national as 1)
a victim of a severe form of trafficking
in persons
and 2) a potential witness in an
investigation or prosecution of the
trafficker.
how do you determine this? let's break it
down.
the victims of trafficking and violence
protection act of 2000,
as amended, defines a victim of a severe
form of trafficking.
for sex trafficking, this means the
recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, obtaining,
patronizing, or
soliciting of a person for the purpose
of a commercial sex act,
in which a commercial sex act is induced
by force,
fraud, or coercion, or in which the person
induced to perform such an act is under
18 years of age.
for labor trafficking, a severe form of
trafficking is defined as
the recruitment, harboring, transportation,
provision,
or obtaining of a person for labor or
services through the use of force,
fraud, or coercion for the purpose of
subjection to involuntary servitude,
peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
continued presence is therefore
applicable to victims of either sex
or labor trafficking.
although the crime needs to be a severe
form of trafficking as defined by the
aforementioned federal statute,
it does not necessarily need to include
violence.
traffickers employ a wide range of
non-violent measures to hold victims
against their will,
including threats of deportation,
psychological coercion,
and control of documents such as
passports.
whether victims were held by means of
force, fraud, or coercion,
they have still been held against their
will, and they are still
eligible for continued presence.
continued presence should be requested
as soon as practicable
after the individual is determined to be
a victim of a severe form of trafficking.
you do not need to have charges, an
indictment, or
a prosecutor involved. in some cases, you
may only have the victim's account of
what happened.
if you believe the victim is credible,
and if you will be taking
any next steps to investigate, then
requesting continued presence is
appropriate.
in some cases, after you have determined
the individual is a victim of a severe
form of trafficking,
you may recognize that he or she is too
traumatized to work with you immediately.
however, after receiving services, they
could be stable enough to provide
evidence.
it is still appropriate to request
continued presence in such cases. you
should request continued presence for
every eligible victim who may be a
potential witness in a case
so that he or she is available, if
necessary, for the investigation.
for example, if the case involves 20
eligible victims who may be potential
witnesses in the case,
you may request continued presence for
all 20 victims.
continued presence is also available to
victims who pursue a civil case
against their traffickers in federal
court. victims who have filed a federal
civil action
under 18 usc section 1595
are eligible to receive continued
presence until the action is concluded.
please direct those victims to the
nearest homeland security investigations
(hsi) victim assistance specialist.
continued presence should be requested as
soon as possible after the individual is
determined to be a foreign national
who is a victim of a severe form of
trafficking and may be a potential
witness to an investigation or
prosecution.
if you are unable to make an immediate
determination that the person is a
victim of a severe form of trafficking,
you should request a deferred action
from your local immigration and customs
enforcement
(ICE) office. this will protect the
individual from removal until another
interview can be scheduled and a
definitive determination can be made.
absent exigent circumstances, deferred
action
or significant public benefit parole
(spbp),
should not be used in lieu of continued
presence, because continued presence
recipients may be eligible to receive
public benefits.
do not under any circumstances use
continued presence as a bargaining chip
or other incentive for cooperation. doing
so could mimic the trafficker's coercive
techniques.
continued presence is available to all
law enforcement agencies that have
authority to investigate or prosecute
human trafficking.
there is, however, a difference in
requesting continued presence if you are
federal
versus state or local law enforcement.
federal law enforcement agencies submit
requests for continued presence directly
to immigration and customs enforcement
(ICE)/HSI headquarters. state and local law
enforcement go through a federal law
enforcement partner who will sponsor the
request.
if you don't have the forms to initiate
a request, reach out to the nearest HSI
office.
HSI can also provide you with the
continued presence protocol for
requesting
and sponsoring law enforcement agencies,
which are law enforcement sensitive
instructions.
continued presence requests go to ICE/
HSI headquarters,
and if approved, u.s citizenship and
immigration services
(USCIS) prepare the documents.
but the amount of time required to
adjudicate a specific continued presence
request
will vary depending on the unique facts
of the case.
ICE will make an effort to process the
sponsoring law enforcement agency's
request
within 30 days from the date it receives
the application.
it may take approximately two months
total for all the paperwork to process.
once processing is complete, the law
enforcement agency that submitted the
request
will receive an I-94 and work permit for
each victim.
after that, it is the responsibility of
the requesting law enforcement agent to
submit quarterly monitoring updates to
ICE/
HSI headquarters. timing plays a key role
in the stabilization of the victim
as well as the investigation as a whole,
so when should you begin the process?
request continued presence as soon as
possible after the individual is
determined to be a victim
of a severe form of trafficking and may
be a potential witness.
after all, you want to keep this victim
in the country and alleviate their fear
of removal while you determine next
steps in your case.
this timing is consistent with the
victim-centered approach in human
trafficking cases
and will also help build the foundation
for a solid case.
begin the continued presence paperwork
as early as possible
after determining that they are a victim,
and submit the forms to ICE/
HSI headquarters. the sooner you are able
to submit a request for processing,
the sooner you will be able to help
stabilize your potential witnesses.
continued presence may be terminated if
you later determine that the person is
not a victim,
if the person commits a crime after
being granted continued presence
or changes immigration status, or if the
criminal or civil action concludes.
notify ICE/HSI headquarters if at any
point you determine
any of these factors to be true.
continued presence is designed to be a
tool to help you,
as a member of law enforcement, build a
strong foundation for cases of human
trafficking through a victim-centered
approach.
continued presence should be requested
as soon as possible
after the individual is determined to be
a victim, to provide stability to
trafficking victims
and keep potential witnesses safely and
legally
in the united states. for more
information,
please visit the blue campaign's website
at
www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign.
email us at
bluecampaign@hq.dhs.gov
or connect with us on facebook.