A Somali family not related to the young girl. Instead they came to her village and approached her parents and asked if they could take the girl, their daughter, to America with them. The young girl's parents agreed. The family brought her to the U.S using a different name and reporting that the girl was their daughter. When the girl arrived to this country, the new family wanted her to do all the housework, baby-sit their other children and completely serve them. The family was also abusive to the young girl. When the young girl refused to cooperate, the family contacted the child protection authorities and reported that they could not keep the child. The young girl was taken by the child protection authorities and was raised in the foster system.
Location
United States · Minneapolis · 2008
(location generalized to protect survivors) Response & intervention
The young woman was referred to a Civil Society human trafficking screening clinic. When Civil Society learned of the woman's situation, they recreated the woman's entire record, obtained letters from judges and social workers that worked with her as a girl who documented the woman's victimization at the hands of people who brought her to this country. Once this information was received, the Civil Society attorney, was able to reapply on the basis that the woman was a victim of human trafficking. A Civil Society attorney accompanied the woman to the immigration interview and her application was approved. Had she not been able to get her citizenship, Civil Society would have pursued a T visa based on the human trafficking involved.
Because of the girl's refugee status, the girl was provided with a green card in the name the "new" family had given her. As she got older, she confided in the social worker who assigned her case and asked the social worker to help her change her name to her original name. Social Services was successful in changing the girls name. When she became an adult she applied for citizenship. During the investigation, authorities had discovered that she had entered this country using a false name and they denied her citizenship and took away her green card. The young woman now had no status in the country due to her prior victimization.
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don't have a verifiable source on file yet — use “Report a problem” below to add one.