WEBVTT 00:00:01.001 --> 00:00:05.338 Lesson 2: Who is eligible for Continued Presence? 00:00:05.338 --> 00:00:08.775 Continued Presence is meant specifically for non-citizens 00:00:08.775 --> 00:00:15.181 who are victims of human trafficking and is available to all non-citizen victims identified during an investigation. 00:00:15.415 --> 00:00:20.520 The key requirements are that federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:23.623 law enforcement must identify a non-citizen as 00:00:23.623 --> 00:00:27.494 1., a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons and 00:00:27.494 --> 00:00:32.365 2., a potential witness in an investigation or prosecution of the trafficker. 00:00:32.465 --> 00:00:34.100 How do you determine this? 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:35.468 Let's break it down. 00:00:35.468 --> 00:00:39.572 The definition of a victim of a severe form of trafficking is explained 00:00:39.572 --> 00:00:43.376 by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended. 00:00:43.977 --> 00:00:48.648 This means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, 00:00:48.648 --> 00:00:53.386 patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act 00:00:53.386 --> 00:00:57.457 in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, 00:00:57.457 --> 00:01:02.262 or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18 years of age. 00:01:02.762 --> 00:01:06.199 For labor trafficking, a severe form of trafficking is defined 00:01:06.199 --> 00:01:09.803 as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, 00:01:09.803 --> 00:01:13.239 or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.509 of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection 00:01:16.509 --> 00:01:20.814 to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. 00:01:20.847 --> 00:01:26.019 Continued Presence is therefore applicable to victims of either sex or labor trafficking. 00:01:27.754 --> 00:01:30.957 Although the crime needs to be a severe form of trafficking 00:01:30.957 --> 00:01:33.793 as defined by the aforementioned federal statute, 00:01:33.793 --> 00:01:36.796 it does not necessarily need to include violence. 00:01:37.063 --> 00:01:40.333 Traffickers employ a wide range of nonviolent measures 00:01:40.333 --> 00:01:44.170 to hold victims against their will, including threats of deportation, 00:01:44.170 --> 00:01:48.208 psychological coercion, and control of documents, such as passports. 00:01:48.508 --> 00:01:52.245 Whether victims were held by means of force, fraud or coercion, 00:01:52.245 --> 00:01:54.481 they have still been held against their will, 00:01:54.481 --> 00:01:57.484 and they are still eligible for Continued Presence. 00:01:57.517 --> 00:02:00.854 Continued Presence should be requested as soon as practicable 00:02:00.854 --> 00:02:05.325 after the individual is determined to be a victim of a severe form of trafficking. 00:02:05.525 --> 00:02:09.162 You do not need to have charges, an indictment or a prosecutor 00:02:09.162 --> 00:02:10.964 involved in order to apply. 00:02:10.964 --> 00:02:14.834 In some cases, you may only have the victim's account of what happened. 00:02:15.034 --> 00:02:20.073 If you believe the victim is credible and if you will be taking any next steps to investigate, 00:02:20.073 --> 00:02:22.809 then requesting Continued Presence is appropriate. 00:02:24.777 --> 00:02:30.383 In some cases, after you've determined the individual is a victim of a severe form of trafficking, 00:02:30.383 --> 00:02:35.355 you may recognize that he or she is too traumatized to work with you immediately. 00:02:35.355 --> 00:02:40.426 However, after receiving services, they could be stable enough to provide evidence. 00:02:40.426 --> 00:02:44.364 It is still appropriate to request Continued Presence in such cases. 00:02:44.697 --> 00:02:46.599 You should request Continued Presence 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:50.336 for every eligible victim, who may be a potential witness in a case 00:02:50.336 --> 00:02:54.340 so that he or she is available, if necessary, for the investigation. 00:02:54.674 --> 00:03:00.513 For example, if the case involves 20 eligible victims who may be potential witnesses in the case, 00:03:00.513 --> 00:03:04.050 you may request Continued Presence for all 20 victims. 00:03:04.384 --> 00:03:07.620 Continued Presence is also available to victims who pursue 00:03:07.620 --> 00:03:10.623 a civil case against their traffickers in federal court. 00:03:10.723 --> 00:03:19.165 Victims who have filed a federal civil action under 18 U.S.C. Section 1595 are eligible to receive Continued Presence 00:03:19.165 --> 00:03:21.000 until the action is concluded. 00:03:21.100 --> 00:03:28.741 Please direct those victims to the nearest Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Victim Assistance Program Specialist.