When Numbers Matter

Since 2021, Maxwell Street Legal Clinic has been working with the FBI to aid survivors of a massive human trafficking scheme. A religious organization out of India had been bringing in men from the country’s lowest class castes and forcing them to work on constructing temples in the United States. The FBI raided one construction site in 2021, and discovered nearly 100 men. They relocated them across the country, with 15 men sent to Lexington to receive help in restarting their lives. 

Maxwell Street began their involvement by identifying the importance of securing T-Visas for every client sent our way. T-Visas are a special visa created particularly to help the survivors of human trafficking. MSLC staff endeavored to submit applications for all fifteen clients, with an impressive result of having ten granted and four still pending. One survivor unfortunately passed away from lingering injuries sustained from unsafe working conditions at the trafficking site. Acquiring the principal T-Visa is just the first step for survivors. Each one of these clients still has impacted family members in India. With an approved T-Visa, a survivor can sponsor their spouse and children to join them in the U.S. As a result of the relationships formed with the first fifteen clients, there are now approximately another fifty-five T-Visa derivative clients that MSLC is striving to help. 

What most don’t understand about cases like this is that a human trafficking event does not just impact the direct survivor. It can be felt broadly in the lives of their extended family members and communities. The problem is compounded and multiplied by stressors unique to this situation. For example, for children to apply for passports in India, it is a requirement that both their parents obtain passports. Navigating the bureaucracy, systems, and forms of both countries can understandably be a complicated process, even more so for families forced to communicate from such far distances and having just endured recent traumatic circumstances. 

Further complicating things, securing a passport renewal from India while living in the United States means people must navigate language barriers, as the US process is entirely in English. This can also include strict evidence requirements and other hurdles that can mount day-by-day. Abigail Rundell, MSLC Deputy Program Director, did not allow numerous challenges to stand in the way of our team aiding each of these clients in their hour of need. She stepped up in a huge way to help them overcome the multi-layered and complex processes to secure their passports. 

Amazingly her efforts, with the support of the MSLC team, allowed Maxwell Street to accomplish this in addition to staying on top of the requirements for both our initial clients and the derivative T-Visa applications for their extended family members. Adding in an additional consideration, as all of the clients’ families are in India, they must go through what is called consular processing. There is only one embassy and four consulate offices in all of the Republic of India. Family members must await approval just to travel to the consulate assigned to their matter. Since all of our clients are from the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, or fairly close to that area, you can imagine the distance can be incredibly daunting. It can be over 120 miles to travel to the closest consulate in New Delhi. Families have to make this trip twice, once for fingerprinting and a background check, and again for consular processing. Then, each client must produce the fee, which is around $185.

These numbers matter significantly. Reunification can be impossible for families who don’t have an ally or advocate to help them navigate deadlines, dollars, and the very fine print often critical to achieving the legal protections they seek. These men are heroes who have stepped up to assist the FBI as witnesses in the prosecution against their traffickers. It is an honor to assist them through this tumultuous time in their lives.  Abigail, our MSLC team, and our partners are committed to solving this equation for the people who come to us looking for solutions. Without their knowledge, compassion, and determination, these very real problems would go unsolved for survivors who find themselves in our region. We count ourselves fortunate every day to have supporters like you who ensure vulnerable members of our society have somewhere to turn when they need help.