In addition, victims of trafficking are often
arrested and convicted for prostitution-related offenses. These victims are often desperate to be released and possibly
to be reunited with their children following their arrests or
pending trial. These factors--combined with poor legal
counsel, particularly about the immigration consequences of
criminal pleas and convictions--have in the past and will
likely continue to lead to deportation of wrongly accused
victims who may have pled to or been unfairly convicted of
domestic violence charges and/or prostitution. H.R. 3003
imposes harsh criminal penalties and H.R. 3004 imposes
expanded bases for detention without consideration of
mitigating circumstances or humanitarian exceptions for these
victims. In addition, H.R. 3004 expands the criminal consequences
for re-entry in the U.S. without recognizing the compelling
humanitarian circumstances in which victims who have been
previously removed return for their safety.
Keywords matched
immigration deportation