§1375b Protections for Domestic Workers and Other Nonimmigrants

Summary

Creates a short pamphlet and a video that explain legal rights and help for people applying for work- or school-based nonimmigrant visas. The Secretary of State, working with Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Labor, must make them and talk with groups that help workers and trafficking victims. The video must be shown in consular waiting rooms where most applicants go, and the State Department can add video equipment to do this. The materials must explain the visa process (including job portability), federal immigration and labor rights, that slavery, trafficking, sexual assault, extortion, blackmail, and worker abuse are illegal, and the rights of victims (including access to immigrant and labor groups, the right to seek relief in U.S. courts, the right to report abuse without retaliation, the passport possession point, the requirement of an employment contract and what it protects). They must list victim service groups and hotlines, including the federal anti‑trafficking hotline and Operation Rescue and Restore. The pamphlet and video must be translated into languages used by the largest groups of applicants, with the languages reviewed every 2 years. The materials must be posted on the State, DHS, Justice, and Labor Department websites and at consular posts, and shared with government agencies, advocacy groups, and foreign labor brokers. The pamphlet had to be available in all required languages within 180 days after December 23, 2008, and the video within 1 year after March 7, 2013. When a consular officer interviews a visa applicant, the officer must confirm the applicant received, read, and understood the pamphlet. If not, the officer must give or read the same key information in a language the applicant understands and answer questions. Officers must tell applicants about their legal rights, that the listed crimes are illegal, and about victim services and complaint hotlines. Defined terms used here: “Employment- or education-based nonimmigrant visa” = the specified work or study visa categories including personal or domestic servants joining employers; “Severe forms of trafficking in persons” = the meaning in 22 U.S.C. 7102; “Secretary” = the Secretary of State; “Abusing and exploiting” = conduct covered by 18 U.S.C. 1466A, 1589, 1591, 1592, 2251, or 2251A.