Posted on 07/21/2014 5:25:04 AM PDT by EinNYC
Human trafficking victims now have another reason to come out of the darkness.
The city will provide foreign-born sex trafficking victims in Queens free lawyers to help them navigate available pathways to citizenship, officials announced Thursday.
Six pro-bono attorneys will be on hand at Queens Family Justice Center in Kew Gardens, for one day a week, as part of a pilot program launched through the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence and advocacy groups.
The lawyers will determine if undocumented victims qualify for asylum or visas — available to some who agree to help law enforcement find traffickers or other perpetrators.
It's an important part of preventing future crimes, advocates say.
"The lack of immigration status leaves so many immigrants vulnerable to trafficking," said Melissa Brennan, an attorney with nonprofit Sanctuary for Families, which helped create the pilot.
"Victims often feel if they go to police, they will be deported," she added. "We're empowering them with the knowledge that this is not the case."
Queens is a hotbed in the city for various forms of trafficking, advocates say.
More than 56% of citywide sex trafficking victims have sought services in the borough, city officials said.
How about we just enforce immigration laws and then we don't have to spend these additional tax dollars "navigating pathways to citizenship" for unskilled illiterates we don't need? Believe me, we have plenty of homegrowns in that category we'll need to spend millions on to support.
The program is also known as AFD - Aid to Future Democrats.
There are affiliates nation-wide.
What’s with all this free citizenship to everyone and their dog? Just how many more votes does hussein deperately need for ‘16 that he can’t create through voting software manipulation or with his super duper magic pen?
How many illegal aliens will CLAIM to be “trafficked” just to get a path to citizenship?
The Democrats passing out trillions of dollars to their connected interests to fund the next decades of political elections clearly wasn’t enough for them.
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