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The T visa is one of the United States’ most vital tools for protecting survivors of severe human trafficking and holding traffickers accountable. It provides temporary legal status to victims who assist law enforcement in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of trafficking crimes, allowing them to remain in the country for up to four years with authorization to work. For survivors who have endured exploitation, coercion, and violence, the T visa offers something essential: safety, stability, and a path toward rebuilding their lives while helping ensure traffickers are brought to justice.
Congress created the T visa in 2000 through the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, recognizing that victims are often the strongest source of evidence against traffickers—but only if they are protected from deportation and retaliation. To qualify, applicants must demonstrate that removal from the United States would cause extreme hardship or harm. They also must be eligible to reside in the U.S.; criminal history, certain medical conditions, or past immigration violations can make a person inadmissible. The law also extends protection to certain family members, including parents, children, and unmarried siblings, when they face danger as a result of the victim’s trafficking experience. As the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) explains in its T Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide, the program “encourages human trafficking victims to report their victimization to law enforcement” and enables their participation in investigations even when they lack lawful immigration status.
Despite its proven value, the T visa has come under sustained attack. The Trump administration has called for the elimination of the program altogether, arguing that “victimization should not be a basis for immigration benefits.” This position ignores the reality of trafficking and undermines one of law enforcement’s most effective mechanisms for dismantling trafficking networks. Without the protections offered by a T visa, survivors have little incentive but enormous risk in cooperating with police and prosecutors. When victims are too afraid to come forward, traffickers remain free, cases fall apart, and entire networks continue to operate with impunity. T visas offer protection to victims and strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to detect, investigate, and prosecute human trafficking. Law enforcement agencies receive far less firsthand information and detailed victim testimony crucial for identifying and investigating human trafficking networks. If the victim is not granted a T visa, they are not obligated to cooperate with law enforcement. The victim’s cooperation is essential for building strong evidence, and without it, prosecutors face greater difficulty taking cases to trial and securing convictions against traffickers.
The numbers demonstrate the program’s importance. In fiscal year 2023, the Department of Homeland Security granted T visas to 2,181 victims and 1,495 qualifying family members, an increase from the previous year. But since the start of Trump’s second term, the program has been severely weakened. Visa denials now outpace approvals for the first time in the program’s history. The administration has reinstated policies allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to initiate immediate deportation proceedings against individuals whose T visa applications are denied and has stripped away safeguards that once protected applicants from removal. These changes have created a chilling effect: Survivors are increasingly afraid to report crimes or seek help, knowing that doing so could lead to detention or deportation. Without people to testify, it will be virtually impossible to hold perpetrators accountable.
Advocates for immigrant victims of crime say the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement makes it easy for traffickers to threaten deportation in order to maintain control over victims. New USCIS guidance issued in February 2025 further deepened this fear by allowing the issuance of notices to appear for deportation even while T visa applications are pending. According to a spring 2025 survey by the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors, more than three-quarters of advocates and attorneys reported that their clients were afraid to contact law enforcement. Alarmingly, some advocates now hesitate to advise trafficking survivors to seek police assistance at all, fearing for their clients’ safety. One reported case involved a trafficking survivor with no criminal record who was nevertheless detained by ICE. These policies hand traffickers a powerful weapon: the threat of deportation, which they routinely use to control and silence victims.
In response, Democratic Representatives Gwen Moore and Jimmy Panetta introduced the Immigrant Witness and Victim Protection Act in August 2025. The bill would protect most T visa applicants from immigration detention and deportation, ensuring that survivors are not punished for coming forward. Such protections are essential if the T visa is to function as Congress intended.
At the same time, layoffs at USCIS have dramatically slowed processing times, leaving survivors trapped in legal limbo. Although USCIS estimated a median wait time of 15 months in 2024, the Los Angeles Times reported that immigration attorneys report that delays can stretch far longer—potentially two decades at the current pace. During this time, most applicants are unable to work legally, leaving them economically vulnerable and dependent on minimal support. Prolonged uncertainty compounds survivors’ trauma, replacing the promise of safety with anxiety and instability.
Weakening the T visa program does not deter trafficking—it enables it. Protecting and strengthening T visas is not only a moral imperative for survivors; it is a practical necessity for law enforcement and public safety. When survivors are safe, traffickers are exposed. When survivors are silenced by fear, traffickers walk free.
Acknowledgment: Hayley Hui, research assistant.
