Help for victims of crime, trafficking or forced labor

Step 1 — Get safe and keep your papers with you

If you think you may be in a trafficking situation, the hotline suggests planning for your safety. Its basic tips include (Trafficking Hotline — Get Help):

• keep your important documents and identification with you at all times;
• keep important phone numbers on you, including someone you feel safe contacting;
• keep a phone, access to your bank account and any medicine you need;
• write down any unwanted contact from the trafficker, and save threatening voicemails, texts and emails;
• agree on a signal, such as a code word or text, with someone you trust.

Your passport belongs with you. The State Department tells temporary workers that you should always have access to your own passport, visa, birth certificate or other identification documents, and that no one should keep them from you (State Department).

Step 2 — Learn the signs of trafficking and forced labor

Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud or coercion to get labor or a commercial sex act; anyone under 18 in commercial sex is a victim, even without force (DHS — Indicator Card). Forced labor is one common type (DHS — Myths).

It can start before the job does. DHS explains that forced labor can begin during recruitment, for example with recruitment fees that are virtually impossible to repay. It can also start later, when an employer forces a worker into work they didn’t agree to, or stops them from leaving (DHS — Forced Labor).

A visa doesn’t protect you from it. DHS cites a National Institute of Justice study: 71% of people in forced labor in the U.S. had entered on lawful H-2A and H-2B visas (DHS — Forced Labor in the U.S.). Domestic work, such as cooking, cleaning and caregiving in a home, is the most common setting for labor exploitation in the U.S. (DHS — Forced Labor in the U.S.).

DHS’s Blue Campaign suggests asking questions like these (DHS — Identify; DHS — Indicator Card):

• Does the person have their own identification and travel documents?
• Were they recruited for one job but forced to do other work?
• Is their pay being taken to pay off a debt or fee? (Paying off a smuggling fee alone is not considered trafficking.)
• Have they or their family been threatened with harm, deportation or criminal charges?
• Can they freely leave where they live, and contact family or friends without being watched?
• Are they denied food, water, sleep or medical care, or living in substandard housing?
• Do they seem coached on what to say?

Not every sign appears in every case, and no single sign proves trafficking (DHS — Identify). The indicator card is available in more than 30 languages (DHS — Report).

Trafficking is not smuggling. Smuggling means moving a person across a border in violation of immigration laws. Trafficking is based on exploitation and doesn’t require crossing a border, but smuggling can turn into trafficking if force, fraud or coercion is used (DHS — Myths).

Step 3 — Trafficking or another problem at work?

Not every bad job is trafficking. The hotline explains that labor trafficking can be told apart from other labor exploitation by the use of force, fraud or coercion to make someone work (Trafficking Hotline — Labor Trafficking). Problems can also grow: DHS describes a worker who goes into debt during recruitment, then faces unexpected pay deductions, and falls deeper into debt bondage (DHS — Forced Labor).

Where each problem goes:

• Forced or coerced to work, including in a temporary visa program: the National Human Trafficking Hotline (EEOC).
• Unpaid wages or overtime: federal law sets minimum wage and overtime standards (DOL — FLSA). The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) takes complaints at 1-866-487-9243. Complaints are confidential, and employers can’t retaliate against workers for using their rights (DOL — Complaints). See your paycheck.
• An employer not following visa program rules (for example H-1B, H-2A or H-2B): WHD (EEOC). See work visa types.
• An unsafe job: the Labor Department, 1-866-4-USA-DOL (State Department).
• Discrimination or harassment: see where to file a complaint.
• A fake job offer: see scams that target newcomers.

Step 4 — Call, text or report

National Human Trafficking Hotline. It connects victims and survivors of sex and labor trafficking with services, receives tips and, in certain cases, helps report them to the authorities. It is not a government agency and not law enforcement (Trafficking Hotline — About Us).

• It doesn’t share information that identifies a caller, even with law enforcement, without the caller’s explicit consent, and it doesn’t record calls (Trafficking Hotline — Confidentiality).
• It does inform the authorities about suspected abuse of a minor, possible harm to you or others, or when the law requires it (Trafficking Hotline — Confidentiality).
• You can also email help@humantraffickinghotline.org (Trafficking Hotline — Get Help) or send a tip online; if it’s urgent or happened in the last 24 hours, call, text or chat instead (Trafficking Hotline — Report).
• Its referral directory lists anti-trafficking organizations offering emergency, transitional or long-term services (Trafficking Hotline).

DHS Tip Line. To report suspected trafficking to federal law enforcement, call 1-866-347-2423, 24/7, or 1-802-872-6199 from outside the U.S. (DHS — Report). It is run by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (DHS — Identify).

Local police. DHS says you can also contact local law enforcement directly (DHS — Report).

Reporting about someone else? Share who, what, when and where, and why it seems suspicious. Never confront a suspected trafficker or tell the victim what you suspect (DHS — Report).

Step 5 — Get support after any crime

VictimConnect Resource Center is a confidential referral helpline for victims of any crime: call or text 1-855-484-2846, or chat at victimconnect.org. Its specialists offer emotional support, information and referrals for the physical, emotional, legal and financial impacts of crime (VictimConnect), in over 200 languages (VictimConnect — About). It can only talk with you if you are physically safe; in immediate danger, call 911 (VictimConnect). It is a nonprofit program funded by the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) (VictimConnect; VictimConnect — About).

Local services. OVC’s Directory of Crime Victim Services lists thousands of programs (OVC), and its Help in Your State map gives contacts for each state’s victim assistance program and for applying for compensation (OVC — Help in Your State).

Compensation. Crime victim compensation pays back, to you or on your behalf, crime-related costs such as medical bills, counseling, lost wages and funeral costs. Eligibility varies by state, so contact the program in the state where the crime happened (OVC — Victim Compensation).

If the person hurting you is a partner or family member, see domestic violence help.

Step 6 — Know that immigration law has protections

USCIS says traffickers and abusers often use a victim’s lack of immigration status to exploit and control them (USCIS). In USCIS’s words (USCIS):

• the T visa “is for victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons”;
• the U visa “is for victims of certain qualifying criminal activities, including domestic violence, sexual assault, hate crimes, human trafficking, involuntary servitude, and certain other serious offenses.”

The State Department tells temporary workers that there are programs to protect people who report abuse or mistreatment, and that they should not be afraid to seek help even with immigration concerns (State Department). Whether any protection fits your situation is a question for an authorized legal helper: see free immigration legal help.