BILL REQ. #:  S-0309.3 

Read first time 02/05/09.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Human trafficking, a form of slavery, persists in our modern world. This deep-rooted phenomenon involves the criminal transportation of people as commodities within or across borders to perform forced labor; and
     WHEREAS, Each year, an estimated six hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand men, women, and children are trafficked against their will across international borders. Fourteen thousand five hundred to seventeen thousand five hundred of these people are trafficked into the United States; and
     WHEREAS, A significant impediment trafficking victims encounter in seeking access to the criminal justice system is their fear of deportation and the consequent permanent separation from family members who reside in the United States. This fear prevents many immigrant crime victims from seeking police protection, shelter, medical care, and other social services; and
     WHEREAS, Recognizing the need to take strong action to combat trafficking at home and abroad, the United States Congress created the T visa which provides trafficking victims legal means to prevent deportation. However, while the law provides for the issuance of up to five thousand T visas a year, less than one thousand one hundred have been issued in the seven years this program has been available;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Department of Homeland Security examine how to expedite the processing of T visa applications. Additionally, your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress study the federal T visa program to determine why the rate of issuing T visas is so low and what can be done to make it easier for eligible human trafficking victims to qualify.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.