Urge Congress to Act Now on Human Trafficking and to Protect Guest Workers

Each year, hundreds of thousands of immigrant guest 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.

This is in part because there is little information publicly available - workers can't find out which employers to avoid. Nor is the government keeping very close tabs. Traffickers are not being held accountable. This has to stop.

Polaris finds out about trafficking involving people with guest worker visas when they contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Victims reach out because they are being underpaid or not paid at all, living in inhumane conditions, or otherwise suffering. In many cases, they cannot simply leave because they are threatened with deportation and often owe a great deal of money - sometimes to their trafficker.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of congressional leaders introduced the Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act, which would give potential guest workers the information they need to make the best possible decisions and allow nonprofits like Polaris to help hold bad actors and human traffickers accountable.

We need your help to stop these heinous acts. Send a letter to your members of Congress urging them to pass a bill that ensures greater transparency in temporary visa programs today!
[Representative]:

I urge you to support the passage of the Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018, which seeks to prevent human trafficking by bringing more openness to the foreign temporary worker visa process.

[Your comment will be added here]

Millions of foreign individuals are authorized to work in the United States every year on temporary, non-immigrant visas. Abusive employers are bringing foreign workers to the United States with the expectation of legitimate jobs, only to coerce them into unbearable conditions, including sex slavery and domestic servitude. Federal data on these temporary work visas is not uniformly reported and not available to the public, impeding law enforcement's efforts to crack down on this form of human trafficking. The Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act provides a straightforward solution to gaps in reporting, by requiring a standardized reporting system, expanding reports to include critical information, and providing governments, advocates, and the public with the data needed to develop trafficking prevention programs.

The Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act is also supported by AFL-CIO, Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking (ATEST), American Federation of Teachers, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Economic Policy Institute, Freedom Network, Free the Slaves, Futures Without Violence, International Labor Recruitment Working Group (ILRWG), Justice in Motion, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Employment Law Project, National Guestworker Alliance, Polaris, Safe Horizon, Service Employee International Union (SEIU), Southern Poverty Law Center, UniteHERE, Verité, and Vital Voices.

Thank you for your consideration,

[Your name]
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