ICE announces first resource guide to aid human trafficking victims
Guide will help law enforcement navigate continued presence process
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today the first Continued Presence (CP) resource guide to assist federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies nationwide with their human trafficking investigations and prosecutions. When used by law enforcement, CP is a tool that will help increase the likelihood of success in human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.
“Many law enforcement agencies and prosecutors use Continued Presence as a tool to combat human trafficking. This new resource guide is intended to help make a complex process easier to navigate,” said ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson. “We are taking every step to better equip the law enforcement community to fight human trafficking across the Nation.”
CP is a temporary immigration designation provided to individuals identified by law enforcement as human trafficking victims (sex trafficking and labor trafficking), who may be potential witnesses or have filed federal civil actions. CP is granted in two-year increments and is renewable. Recipients are also eligible for federal benefits and services that provide victims with stability, a means of support, and protection from removal. CP helps to alleviate fears about removal and economic support and improves victims’ ability to seek justice against their traffickers.
Experts from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) will offer virtual engagement sessions for state and local law enforcement to discuss human trafficking and information about requesting CP.
The CP online toolkit can be found at ICE.gov/ContinuedPresenceToolkit.
Local jurisdictions interested in setting up an informational meeting may contact ICE at ICEOPE@ice.dhs.gov. Additional victim services may be accessed by contacting the ICE Victims Engagement and Services Line (VESL) or 1-833-383-1465.
CCHT oversees the DHS mission to combat human trafficking and the importation of goods produced with forced labor. By co-locating and augmenting existing DHS functions in a single, state-of-the-art center, it provides a “whole of government” approach to combating these crimes and allows ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to continue to lead the way in an integrated, victim-centered approach to the investigation of human trafficking.
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