Cleary Gottlieb Secures Immigration Remedy for Human Trafficking Victim

Cleary Gottlieb successfully represented Ms. M, a citizen of Mexico, in her application for T Nonimmigrant Status (known as a “T Visa”). T Visas are available to those who are or have been victims of human trafficking and have assisted in the investigation or prosecution of human trafficking. Ms. M has lived in the United States for over five years and has a U.S. citizen child.

Ms. M is in the U.S. as a direct consequence of her being a victim of human trafficking. Ms. M’s traffickers kidnapped her in Mexico and used physical and psychological abuse, as well as threats of violence against her family, to enslave Ms. M and force her into prostitution. Ms. M was ultimately smuggled across the border and transported to New York, where she was again forced into prostitution until she was able to escape from her captors. She has since cooperated with U.S. and Mexican law enforcement in their attempt to arrest and prosecute her traffickers.

Ms. M qualified for a T Visa on the basis of her status as a victim of human trafficking and her related cooperation with U.S. law enforcement, which was attested to by the Department of Homeland Security. Securing a T Visa means that Ms. M is now able to live and work legally in the U.S. and, in three years, she will be eligible to apply for adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident. Ms. M will also eventually be able to naturalize and become a U.S. citizen.

The Cleary team was also able to secure a T Visa for Ms. M’s mother as a derivative applicant based on the various threats of violence that Ms. M received against her family.