Advocates across the anti-human-trafficking field are calling on Congress to pass the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act, which would create the first federal pathway for survivors of labor and sex trafficking to clear criminal records resulting from their trafficking experience. This law would break down a massive barrier to survivors’ economic stability and mobility, as having a criminal record — even resulting from victimization — restricts one’s ability to secure housing, employment, and custody rights. 

As a survivor of labor and sex trafficking, I know this impact firsthand. When I was 15 years old, I was coerced to work at a strip club and “adultified” by society. While I was a minor and into adulthood, the man I thought was my protector at the club turned out to be my pimp. Moreover, he knew how to use everything in his power — even my own children — to manipulate me.

At one point, he orchestrated parallel cases against me in both family and criminal courts. Despite knowing that I was a victim of sex trafficking, the family court did not provide me with an attorney and instead awarded him custody of our child — the first case in Texas where a victim (me) had to pay her trafficker child support. In criminal court, I could not afford to go to trial and was forced to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit. 

Meanwhile, when I tried to move forward, I was left struggling to make ends meet. I had served in the military and was later hired by the Sheriff’s Department. But although my colleagues vouched for me, my criminal record prevented me from keeping the job and pursuing a career. Credit reporting agencies and background checks flagged my record, complicating my efforts to obtain credit and find employment.

Fortunately, my custody case ended up being reopened. Everything came out, and I proved my innocence. I started getting my children back, but my criminal record remained a barrier to finding gainful employment to support us. I could only find non-living wage jobs that left us in poverty — and put my children in a vulnerable position where, God forbid, they might end up where I was as a teen. I know all too well that trafficking can be generational: My mother was a victim of trafficking, too.

My family’s story is not the only example. I recently participated in a National Survivor Study, surveying hundreds of trafficking survivors across the country. The results are striking: 42% of respondents report having a criminal record, with 90% reporting that all or some of their arrests were related to their exploitation. These records keep us from getting or keeping a job (69%); getting training, education, or a professional license (63%); getting good housing (59%); and maintaining custody of our children (35%). 

Knowing this reality, I’ve been putting my experience to use. Over the last five years, I have shared my story many times, including in founding a youth-serving nonprofit, Nissi’s Network; running for political office in Houston in 2019; and advocating for SB 315, a Texas law preventing young people under age 21 from working in sexually oriented businesses — with the goal of keeping other girls from ending up where I was. I also want better communication and collaboration between criminal and family courts, as well as more resources and programs for girls and young women who are mothers.

And I support the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act. Passing this bill in Congress would be a huge step in empowering survivors of trafficking — and it could make the path forward easier for someone else in my situation.

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The post Opinion: First Federal Criminal Record Relief Bill will Help Survivors Break Free From the Past and Pursue a Viable Future first appeared on Polaris.

Financial abuse is one of the primary ways traffickers enforce control over the people they exploit, and how they profit from that exploitation. Finances are frequently used as means of control by traffickers to prolong exploitation, that is essentially the theft of financial freedom. Therefore, a survivor of human trafficking is a survivor of financial abuse.

Financial abuse can present in many different ways, from controlling how money is spent to evading legal obligations. Survivors of human trafficking most commonly experience forms of financial abuse that intersect with identity theft and fraud. In fact, 53% of respondents in Polaris’ National Survivor Study (NSS) shared that their bank accounts and credit were accessed and used by their traffickers during their exploitation.

As a result of these abuses, survivors are in extremely vulnerable financial circumstances after exiting their trafficking, and can be for many years after their exploitation ends. For example, survivors are twice as likely as the general US population to not have a checking account, and twice as likely to be unable to open a bank account due to identification, personal credit or past debanking from fraudulent activities on their accounts. This lack of access to basic financial tools and services leaves survivors isolated in cycles of vulnerability, which can lead to re-exploitation and even more barriers to stability.

Focus groups conducted with NSS participants also revealed that a majority of services for survivors, including financial access and support services, are concentrated in crisis response (shelter, transportation, law enforcement involvement, for example), typically the first 3-12 months after exit. Few exist to support survivors with their long term access and repair needs, such as credit building and repair. These services are needed to support survivors in sustaining economic stability long-term.

Polaris’s vision is focused on more than momentarily alleviating the economic situation of trafficking survivors, it is focused on long-term stability. That’s why, through collaborative efforts with trusted allies, we are working to establish referral pathways for survivors who encounter barriers to financial inclusion. Together, we are addressing the myriad challenges faced by survivors, building a resource ecosystem that benefits them, and fostering lasting systemic changes. Five innovative examples of efforts to increase access to financial products and services include:

1. The Debt Bondage Repair Act Guide was co-created by anti-trafficking subject matter experts and stakeholders, and provides step-by-step assistance and template documents for “survivors, service providers, government entities, and law enforcement on navigating the DBRA process.”
2. Finance Against Slavery & Trafficking (FAST) Survivor Inclusion Initiative (SII) has brought financial institutions and direct service organizations together to increase access to basic checking and savings accounts. Some institutions also offer products such as debit and credit cards and financial literacy education.
3. Survivor’s Guide to Money: How to Use Money as a Tool After it Was Used Against You as a Weapon is a financial literacy curriculum authored and informed by survivors. This curriculum has seen positive outcomes with survivors who independently go through the workbook, and is also used in residential and peer support groups across the US.
4. Moore Van Allen’s Online Financial Wellness Tool was co-created with Credit.com and is a customizable platform with online learning modules on topics ranging from foundational financial concepts to financial capability and wealth building, specifically designed for survivors of human trafficking.
5. Shyne’s Survivor Business Network provides comprehensive support, valuable resources, and capital for innovative ideas that challenge societal norms and systems by providing survivors with high-level, trauma-informed volunteer coaches to support survivors in wealth-building education opportunities.

There are many ways to get involved with promoting financial inclusion for survivors of trafficking, including supporting organizations that collaborate on this issue, and advocating for inclusive finance policies. Collective action and collaboration is the only way that we can build a more inclusive and equitable financial ecosystem that not only supports survivors of trafficking in gaining stability, but in reaching a stage where they are thriving.

Financial Inclusion: Available and accessible financial products and services. This includes but is not limited to: checking and savings accounts; credit building/repair; mortgages and business loans; building a savings cushion; home, life, and car insurance; remittances to family; paying off debt; personal credit cards and lines of credit; and financial education.

Financial Capability: An individual’s ability to act in one’s best financial interest, no matter their circumstances, to build economic stability.

Economically Thriving: A survivor of human trafficking who is economically thriving is a person who is securely rooted in their community; with sufficient material resources to be able to be in the present without grief, fear, or restraint from the past; and who has what they need to pursue their goals for the future. Economically thriving is having the freedom of unconstrained choices, and possessing the capacity to dream.

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The post Referral Pathways: A Collaborative Strategy for Financial Inclusion first appeared on Polaris.

H.R. 2601 would require the operator of the Trafficking Hotline to turn over information shared by the public to state and local law enforcement on demand, regardless of whether or not an adult trafficking victim consents to the involvement of law enforcement. Victims of human trafficking must be able to control when to involve law enforcement in their trafficking situations. 

Because human traffickers often threaten victims and their families if someone calls law enforcement — regardless of who calls — the bill is dangerous to the safety and security of victims and survivors of human trafficking. As a result, we urge members of Congress to vote NO on H.R. 2601. 

Polaris stands against H.R. 2601 for the following reasons: 

1. This mandate violates the trust of confidentiality and autonomy the Trafficking Hotline provides to potential victims. Victims and survivors who call the Trafficking Hotline count on their information remaining confidential. They place their trust in the NHTH to work with them in a way that prioritizes their safety from the moment they call. If this bill is passed into law, victims will stop calling the Hotline to access resources. We know this because they’ve told us, and we’ve listened.
    
2. The Trafficking Hotline already actively works with law enforcement when requested by victims or in a limited scope as required by existing mandates, which are disclosed to callers. The Trafficking Hotline already complies with mandated reporting laws about children who may be trafficked or otherwise harmed, and reports any credible situations where it is clear someone is unable to get help for themselves. From 2016 through August 2022, the Trafficking Hotline has referred more than 7,300 situations to law enforcement. 
    
3. No other crisis hotline is required to turn over information of this nature. To impose this requirement on the National Human Trafficking Hotline would create inconsistency in the experiences of victims compared to when they call a sexual assault, domestic violence or mental health hotline. It would mandate a different standard of care, signaling that protecting individual personal safety of human trafficking victims is not of concern to Congress. 

Catherine Chen, CEO of Polaris, said, “By requiring the sharing of information without the explicit consent of victims, the bill forces the Trafficking Hotline to violate the trust we have built over the years, and signals to victims and survivors of trafficking that the Hotline is not a safe or trustworthy space. Our first priority, as operators of the Trafficking Hotline and as Polaris, is to create and maintain the safest possible space for victims to regain control of their lives, including in how they get help.”

Our 20+ years of experience, and the chorus of survivor and allied voices speaking out against this bill, including some of the original sponsors, shows that H.R. 2601 is not the correct way forward.

Polaris stands against H.R. 2601, and we urge members of Congress to listen to survivors and vote NO.

The post Polaris Stands Against the National Human Trafficking Hotline Enhancement Act (H.R. 2601) first appeared on Polaris.

Following our series on state policy wins, Polaris is eager to share further updates about what is happening at the federal level. Although these snapshots focus on pending or soon-to-be-introduced legislation and not established laws, they echo a similar theme from the states — the call to prioritize survivor-led policies across a range of relevant issues.

Polaris is committed to amplifying survivors’ voices in our research, recommendations, and relationships with policymakers. You, too, can raise your voice alongside survivors by learning about current efforts and advocating to your elected officials.

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Criminal records relief remains an urgent policy priority across the country. Several states have passed laws giving survivors a pathway to clear criminal records from their trafficking experiences, but some states still restrict relief to specific group classifications, such as sex trafficking victims only or minors only. Three states – Alaska, Iowa and Maine – have no designated relief for trafficking survivors at all. Two other states – Missouri and South Dakota –  only have designated relief for victims who were minors at the time of their exploitation, not adult victims.

Given the clear push in state laws, Polaris and other anti-trafficking advocates have long called for a federal law on criminal records relief for survivors. But although such legislation has been introduced in previous sessions of Congress, no federal law has been passed – leaving federally criminalized trafficking survivors with few options for relief from the weighty burden of carrying a lifelong criminal record.

Without consistent and clear state laws and federal legislation, criminal records remain one of the biggest obstacles that survivors face in rebuilding their lives after exploitation. This was a key finding in Polaris’s National Survivor Study, as 42% of respondents reported having a criminal record, and 90% of those indicated it was directly related to their trafficking.

But listening to survivors means more than just knowing these statistics. Survivors are the experts on how trafficking victims are wrongly criminalized; how existing law enforcement procedures are traumatizing; and how arduous it is to get a trafficking-related record cleared, often taking several years and multiple petitions. Survivors also know what is at stake — how criminal records prevent them from getting a job, finding safe housing, and regaining financial security, putting them at risk of re-trafficking.

Hearing this urgency, Polaris and our partners are calling on Congress to reintroduce the bipartisan Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA). Last introduced in 2022, this bill would be a significant step toward federal criminal records relief, including the possibility of full vacatur — the highest level of relief that suggests the person never should have been convicted in the first place.

Join us in listening to survivors and taking action to make sure their voices are heard. Contact your representatives today and ask them to reintroduce and support the TSRA. 

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The post Prioritizing Survivor Voices at the Federal Level: Criminal Records Relief first appeared on Polaris.

Fortunately, the U.S. government is beginning to recognize this inequality. In October 2022, it launched the H-2B Worker Protection Taskforce, a major acknowledgement that these visa holders face numerous human and labor rights violations in the U.S., including labor trafficking — a concern that Polaris has persistently brought to light. 

Through operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Polaris has heard from hundreds of workers in diverse industries covered under the H-2B program, including construction, meatpacking, amusement parks, hospitality, landscaping, and forestry. Many have had their wages stolen or withheld, supposedly to pay back costs for travel to the U.S. or basic needs. This debt bondage, along with other force, fraud, and coercion, keep workers in exploitative situations. For example, 68% of H-2B trafficking victims reported threats of deportation or immigration consequences if they failed to comply with employers’ demands.

After a year of dedicated advocacy work with coalition partners, Polaris is encouraged by the progress reflected in the H-2B Worker Protection Taskforce’s recent report, which identified the following needed actions: 

• Deferred action to support legal claims: The U.S. government should protect workers involved in labor disputes with their employers by guaranteeing deferred action and allowing workers to remain in the country during an investigation. This could reduce the fear of retaliation that discourages workers from pursuing their rights.

• Creation of a data hub: Having easy access to relevant data on H-2 workers is key in combating labor abuses and holding companies accountable for complying with the rule of law. As a first step toward leveraging existing data, the Department of State will publish anonymized data on a quarterly basis to inform outreach and advocacy efforts.

• Improved recruitment monitoring system: To reduce vulnerability, especially to debt bondage, a better monitoring system would enable the Department of Labor to inspect every aspect of the recruitment process and ensure that common but illegal recruitment fees are not being charged. 

• Outreach and education on worker rights: Under proposed measures, labor and human rights organizations would be able to visit workers in employer-provided housing, which is currently prohibited. The Department of Labor also created a helpful tool for migrant workers, which provides important information about rights and other resources to workers in English and Spanish.

These provisions will help mitigate H-2B workers’ vulnerabilities and empower them to secure their rights and pursue safe, justly compensated work in the U.S. Although much remains to be done in fighting labor exploitation and trafficking, the Taskforce’s efforts are a significant stride in the right direction.

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The post Restoring Power to Our Guest Workers first appeared on Polaris.

Policy change takes time and collective effort — and when we reach our goals, it’s important to celebrate milestones and keep the momentum going. In that spirit, this blog is one of a three-part series on recent wins across the country, as states introduce and improve laws that prevent exploitation, support survivors, and hold traffickers accountable.

Polaris has played our part in these successes, sitting on local coalitions, providing testimony, writing letters, and filing slips in support of survivor-centered policies. But this work needs all partners at the table to be successful — and we invite you to join the movement.

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Sex trafficking is terrible at any age, but stories about child victims and survivors in particular tend to draw more attention. This carries over into lawmaking trends, where policies geared to protect children naturally gain more momentum.

In Illinois, the Prevent Unfair Sentencing of Youth Act gives judges more discretion in sentencing children found guilty of harming their abusers. It requires judges to consider factors such as involvement in the child welfare system and history of sexual exploitation, and it creates a pathway for judges to depart from mandatory minimums or return the case to juvenile court.

Growing support for laws like Illinois’ not only helps victims and survivors of child sex trafficking but also represents a step toward racial justice. Black girls and women are overrepresented among victims of sex trafficking and overcriminalized by the criminal legal system, including in situations where they have defended themselves against their exploiters.

At other times, the desire to protect children can obscure the nuances involved in fighting human trafficking. California passed a law classifying sex trafficking of children as a serious felony under the state’s “three strikes” law, enabling longer sentences for repeat offenders and aiming to dissuade traffickers from exploiting children.

The bill was highly contested — including by advocates who recognized that such a law could be used to prosecute victims and survivors caught in cycles of trafficking themselves. With these concerns at the forefront, dissenting assembly members ultimately passed the bill but with specific amendments to protect victims and survivors from being criminalized under the new law.

How can you help advance nuanced, survivor-centered policymaking? Join us in continuing to push for relief benefiting survivors of all ages, including those whose criminal records are the result of their trafficking experience as a child.

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The post Prioritizing Survivor-Centered State Policies: Spotlight on Child Sex Trafficking first appeared on Polaris.

Policy change takes time and collective effort — and when we reach our goals, it’s important to celebrate milestones and keep the momentum going. In that spirit, this blog is one of a three-part series on recent wins across the country, as states introduce and improve laws that prevent exploitation, support survivors, and hold traffickers accountable.

Polaris has played our part in these successes, sitting on local coalitions, providing testimony, writing letters, and filing slips in support of survivor-centered policies. But this work needs all partners at the table to be successful — and we invite you to join the movement.

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Helping survivors with criminal records avoid further exploitation is an ongoing policy priority for Polaris and the anti-trafficking sector. In our recent National Survivor Study: 

• 42% of survivors reported having a criminal record.
• 90% of those with a criminal record reported that some or all of their arrests were related to their exploitation. 
• Criminal records prevented survivors from getting or keeping a job (69%); getting training, education, or a professional license (63%); getting good housing (59%); and maintaining custody of their children (35% of those with children).

To tackle this barrier at a policy level, Polaris has published two rounds of report cards grading all 50 states and D.C. on their laws enabling survivors to clear criminal records. The latest edition highlights significant progress, plus recommendations for further improvement.

And states are taking action. Several recently passed laws strengthening access to criminal records relief for survivors:

• Illinois has created a pathway for survivors to petition for vacatur, expungement, or immediate sealing of criminal records. It also allows them to attend hearings remotely and file petitions under seal to support healing and prevent future victimization. Notably, the legislator who introduced the bill credited Polaris for raising awareness about the challenges survivors with criminal records face.

• Last year, Louisiana passed the “Michelle Johnson Act,” creating an expungement process for survivors of all ages with no application fees. It is also one of the first states to require district attorneys to report how many survivors are applying for relief and how many requests are accepted or denied.

• Two new laws in Maine aim to reduce overcriminalization of victims and survivors, plus ensure they can rebuild their lives. One provision seals records of prostitution arrests and convictions, preventing discrimination against survivors in housing or employment.

• And in Florida, a new law signed in May exempts survivors’ petitions for expungement from public records laws. This step makes it easier to seek relief and preserves survivors’ privacy and safety. 

How can you help? Check out Polaris’s report cards to learn what still needs to be done in your state. And join in the nationwide effort to pass federal criminal record relief for survivors.

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The post Prioritizing Survivor-Centered State Policies: Improving Criminal Record Relief first appeared on Polaris.

Polaris has played our part in these successes, sitting on local coalitions, providing testimony, writing letters, and filing slips in support of survivor-centered policies. But this work needs all partners at the table to be successful — and we invite you to join the movement. 

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From coast to coast, anti-trafficking advocates are joining with worker rights and prison reform partners to prevent labor trafficking. 

In the District of Columbia, the Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022 — known as the DC Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights — will be implemented in 2024 after the DC Council fully funded the effort in next year’s budget. 

Before this law, house cleaners, nannies, home health aides, and other domestic workers were excluded from the District’s Human Rights Act prohibiting discrimination based on race, sex, gender, national origin, and other traits. Without protection, DC’s domestic workers — mostly women of color and immigrants — have been vulnerable to threats, harassment, and exploitation.

The new act includes domestic workers under the Human Rights Act and occupational health and safety laws. It also requires written agreements between employers and domestic workers, and gives workers information on their rights through a new outreach and education program.

Meanwhile, Nevada and California advocates are working to end a different exception. Sixteen states — along with the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — still allow forced labor as a punishment for a crime. Incarcerated individuals can be mandated to work and paid little to nothing, essentially leaving them without resources to provide for their families or give back to their communities.

But momentum for change is growing: Seven states have recently eliminated this language that exploits institutionalized labor from their constitutions, and Nevada hopes to follow suit. This year, they passed a joint resolution to remove the exception, which will go before voters in 2024. Similar steps are being taken in neighboring California, with the introduction of the End The Slavery in California Act. 

How can you help? If you’re in DC, Nevada, or California, join local efforts to ensure these efforts reach their goals. At the federal level, show your support for a National Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights and the Abolition Amendment to the Constitution, reintroduced this year ahead of Juneteenth.

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The post Prioritizing Survivor-Centered State Policies: The Fight for Fair Labor first appeared on Polaris.

For most Americans, it’s normal to assume that your employer will treat you with dignity and respect, regardless of the industry. It’s not radical to expect safe and fair working conditions. 

But that’s not always the case if you are a foreign worker with a temporary work visa, like the H-2A or H-2B. In 2021, more than 250,000 workers were granted work permits through the H-2A visa program, which brings essential migrant workers into the US agriculture sector. Almost 90% were Mexican nationals. 

These visa holders accept seasonal employment in the US, hoping that they will receive fair wages and be treated with the same dignity expected by the national workforce. But labor violations, back wages, and poor working conditions are all too frequent according to media reports and Polaris’s own experience operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline and other survivor-centered programs. 

Polaris has been raising public awareness of exploitative conditions under temporary work visa programs. We have been calling out the lack of accountability for bad employers who find loopholes and take advantage of workers who desperately need jobs to provide for their families and communities. 

Now Polaris is calling for the financial resources to ensure the Department of Labor (DOL) can fulfill its mandate to protect workers and enforce labor law. The DOL has made it clear that they do not have the funding to monitor employers and ensure safe and humane conditions for workers, including those with H-2A visas. The numbers testify to the need: In 2018 there was only one labor inspector for every 175,000 workers. 

The DOL is asking for $2.3 billion from the US administration for its worker protection agencies and efforts. In support of this request, Polaris and our partners Justice in Motion and the National Employment Law Project ask the Committee of Appropriations to approve the following items in the 2024 budget:

• $340.953 million to restore and strengthen the Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD’s) enforcement capacity, an increase of $67.678 million and 389 full-time equivalent (FTE) personnel. 
• $25.968 million to bolster WHD efforts in key areas like protecting the rights and wages of essential workers, ensuring prevailing wage protections, and combating child labor.
• $2.5 million to help enforce protections of temporary foreign workers and expand outreach efforts alongside the rise in worker visa programs.
• $199.641 million across general and trust funds to adequately resource the Office of the Solicitor to enforce labor and employment laws and keep pace with the DOL’s urgent enforcement agenda.

Without enough inspectors, outreach staff, and other resources at the DOL, we will continue to read about child labor in meat packing industries, back wages owed to workers, and other violations. Budget cuts will endanger workers, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. But we can prevent these situations by properly and fully funding the right offices to ensure foreign workers are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect while working in the US. You can help make this happen by contacting your Congress members today. 

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The post The Fight for Fair Work Needs Full Funding for the Department of Labor first appeared on Polaris.

When workers call the National Human Trafficking Hotline to report abuses at their workplaces, one of the most common methods of control they mention is threats of deportation. In fact, between 2018 and 2020, nearly 6 out of every 10 H-2A visa holders that reported their trafficking situation to the Trafficking Hotline said they were being threatened with immigration consequences if they complain about the exploitative working conditions.

With these new guidelines, noncitizen workers can submit a “Deferred Action” request and an application for “Employer Authorization” in a new centralized intake office, a step that halts any deportation proceedings and provides temporary immigration protections. This is a clear message to employers that use threats of deportation as a way to control foreign workers. At the same time, it offers an important incentive for workers to feel more protected when they see or experience violations of their labor rights. 

Polaris has highlighted the importance of effectively protecting noncitizens workers against trafficking and exploitation, and some of the unique vulnerabilities that they experience: isolation, remote work sites, dependency of the employer for housing and transportation, low English proficiency, lack of access to support networks, just to mention a few of them. These new guidelines could benefit vulnerable workers in many industries across the country, regardless of their status, which is an important development toward empowering foreign workers. The connection with appropriate legal services remains essential and for isolated workers, this is a real challenge.

The new guidelines work hand in hand with two other important announcements that also can contribute to empower workers to report violations to their rights. First, in July 2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a document to provide workers with “guidance on how to seek the department’s support for their requests to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration-related prosecutorial discretion.” Another tool for immigrant workers is the new guidance from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that makes it easier for them to safely participate in investigations without fearing for their immigration status. Polaris is pleased to see DHS and DOL taking these critical steps — and we will keep working towards a labor environment free of trafficking and exploitation. 

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The post New Department of Homeland Security Guidelines Give Power Back to Immigrant Workers first appeared on Polaris.