More human-trafficking survivors are seeking T-visas but face longer waits and risk deportation
The T visa, which is a less used life line for immigrant survivors of human trafficking, is experiencing a sharp increase in practices despite increasing processing periods and risk of deportation.
The visa, also known as non -immigrant status, would help people with serious forms of smuggling in the investigation and prosecution of the smugglers of human smuggling, allowing them to stay in the country for up to four years. Approved applicants can work in the US, suitable for specific state and federal benefits, and apply for a green card on the visa after three years (or if the criminal case is closed).
Julie Dahlstrom, the founder and director of Boston University Human Trafficking Clinic, may have contributed to the increase in the expanding human trafficking definitions of visas and courts, as well as increased obstacles for immigration aid.
In 2000, as part of the Ticarer and Violence Protection Victims, the Congress created a T visa aimed at increasing the ability of law enforcement officers to prosecute crimes of human trafficking while offering protection to survivors. The same law established the U visa, which provides legal status to victims who have suffered a significant abuse due to serious crimes, including human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault. U Visa applicants should be willing to assist law enforcement officers in their investigations of these crimes.
“A lot [applicants] It is also suitable for the U visa, but they take more than 20 years to get an individual to get access… I think if they affect lawyers and survivors, to continue and at the same time to offer T visa applications. “Dahlstrom.” Especially under the Trump administration, we have seen more obstacles, so we saw more obstacles, so we expect to take action.
The USCIS updated the T Visa rules in August 2024 with a process called Bona FIDE detection that has previously accessed benefits while waiting for approval for survivors. In addition, he gave a postponed action, which made individuals a lower priority for lifting.
Erika Gonzalez, from the Coalition of Education and Technical Assistance from the Coalition of Slavery and Trade Coalition, explained that although early access to the federal regulation exists, applications were never implemented because they are too fast to need.
“They updated [bona fide determination] Now it complements to continue with the sharp increases in the filing. Gon Gonzalez said.
As T Visa applications increased, approvals increased. Last year, the number of approval for the first time broke 3,000, but still under 5,000 valves.
T Processing Time for T visas has also increased, and in 2014, 5.9 months jumped to 19.9 months from this financial year.
Meanwhile, denial rates for T visas fluctuated.
“We saw increased denial rates under the previous Trump administration, and then developed rates under the Biden, Dah said Dahlstrom.
Densions may leave visa applicants vulnerable to deportation. In 2018, USCIS began to allow removal if an application notification was rejected (NTA).
According to A 2022 Report Written by DahlstromUSCIS data, which obtained data through the law of Freedom of Information, USCIS, between 2019-2021 to reject Visa candidates in a total of 236 n. Mayor Biden canceled this policy with an executive order of a January 2021, but USCIS has once again issued a new guide that expanded the situation that the agency could publish NTAS.
Dahlstrom has announced that these policies have increased fear among survivors who applied for a T visa, as well as increasing coordination between law enforcement and other agencies.
“In real time, we see the results of the inclusion of needs around law enforcement participation, especially when there is more concern about cooperation and deportation with ice, especially with ice. “These programs are politicized and rejected from some angles and are placed in the trial.”
Since the policy update of February, at least A person was transferred to himself After the Migration and Customs Protection, he rejected his stay despite the application of a waiting T visa.
So far, in 2025 financially, USCIS has approved 1,035 T-Visa and rejected 693, exceeding the number rejected in each of the last four years.
Dahlstrom said, “It’s too early to say what we’re going to see, but if we continue to see these numbers, both will mean an increase in denials, and very few lawsuits tried in more applications, this is really uncomfortable, Dah Dahlstrom said. “These are legally protected programs, but what they can do is really slow them down, to neutralize them in full practices.”
