Each year, hundreds of thousands of workers from around the world come to the U.S. legally on temporary work visas - ready, willing and able to do jobs employers in this country say they can’t otherwise fill. Many of them will become victims of human trafficking because there is so little information publicly available for workers and the government is not closely monitoring employers.
Since 2015 the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline learned of more than 4,816 likely victims of labor trafficking who held legal, temporary work visas. They came to this country - most to work in agriculture - and instead of the good-paying jobs they were promised faced abuse and wage theft. And the pandemic has only made it worse - there was a more than 70% increase in reported likely labor trafficking victims.
We need you to contact congressional leaders to reintroduce the Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act, a bill that will help to shed light on the nation’s guest worker programs. The legislation requires a standardized reporting system that can provide governments, law enforcement, and advocates with the data needed to develop trafficking prevention programs. You can help hold traffickers accountable.
Note: Unfortunately, if you live in a U.S. Territory, such as District of Columbia you don't actually have a voting representative in Congress and therefore cannot fill out the form.