A scorpion instead of an egg

 There is an on-line newsletter I’ve wanted to share with you, and now I have a hook.

 A U.S. visa not many people know about can be given to foreigners who are trafficked to the United States and freed, either by their own efforts or by law enforcement. The visas give them a chance to work here legally while they get their lives back in order. A freed victim has a lot of problems, not least of which may be that someone back home was paid for his, or usually her, body and services, and the trafficker may want revenge.

 Lots of problems.

 The Trump administration doesn’t see a freed victim of human trafficking with those visas. It sees deportable immigrants.

 The above I learned from Stop Trafficking!, a monthly on-line newsletter for people interested in the issue. (Among the people deeply interested in the issue is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, but you’d never know that from the mass media. Or from reading the diocesan press. Or from hearing it preached.) The letter is edited by Sister Jean Schaffer, SDS,  mainly for scores of congregations of sisters who are more or less active in dealing with the issue. Anybody can get on the mailing list, though, to stay up-to-date on what is being done around the world legislatively, legally and helpfully by NGOs, local activists and individuals. A lot of it is depressing; a lot of it is uplifting.

And there are not a whole lot of places where the trafficking scandal is covered regularly. Sister Jean is a hero of media.

Here is part of the lede story in the July issue, dealing with the T Visas for victims. (Humanity United is an NGO created with money from one of the EBay billionaires. The TIP  Report is issued annually by the U.S. State Department. "Tier 1" countries meet existing standards for fighting human trafficking. The July issue of Stop Trafficking! is largely devoted to the report.)

 Following the release of the 2019 U.S. Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Melysa Sperber, Director, Policy and Government Relations at Humanity United said, “The credibility of the TIP Report must first and foremost be grounded in the integrity of the government issuing the report. The ranking of the United States as being in Tier 1 is not credible. U.S. policies are deliberately eroding protections for the most vulnerable among us. Not only is this approach ineffectual to reduce human trafficking, this puts the United States’ standing as a leader on human rights in question.

 “Contradicting the Trump administration’s stated commitment to fight human trafficking, the U.S. is increasingly denying human trafficking survivors’ access to T Visas, which were explicitly created to allow survivors of severe labor or sex trafficking to receive services and remain in the U.S. to help prosecute their traffickers. Instead, survivors seeking a T Visa are being denied and flagged for deportation, which makes them more vulnerable and spreads fear among those yet to come forward.

 “Additionally, the administration’s zero tolerance and the ‘Remain in Mexico’ border policies show an inexcusable lack of concern for the basic human rights of migrating families, many fleeing persecution and exploitation. By painfully separating families and prosecuting asylum seekers as criminals, the administration empowers traffickers who target desperate men, women and children seeking refuge...."

 I guess that's one of the depressing, not uplifting, reports.