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Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)

If you are a victim of
• Reduced Pay
• Long Hours
• Threats
• If you have not been paid or promises been made that have not been filled
• If you have not been paid during covid-19
• If you are willing to come forward- All cases filed are ANONYMOUS and you could receive back pay and punitive • damages

Trafficking Victims Protection Act(TVPA) is a little known law that is starting to receive massive attention in the H1B/L1 outsourcing world.

TVPA is a “U.S  Code target trafficking in persons, also known as involuntary servitude/slavery or forced labor. These provisions are contained in Chapter 77 of Title 18 and are sometimes referred to generally as Chapter 77 offenses. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 supplemented existing laws, primarily 18 U.S.C. § 1584 (Involuntary Servitude), and also provided new tools to combat trafficking”

Over the past 8 months I have been contacted by over 400 current and past H1B/L1 workers. Workers from companies such as HCL, Tata, and Wipro have expressed to me how they are/were lied to and working in unlawful ways. Many of these workers have replaced Americans  only for low wages and greed. The statute of limitations is 10 years.

The unique section of TVPA is the “Forced Labor” clause. Forced Labor is defined in Section 1589 of Title 18. “This makes it unlawful to provide or obtain the labor or services of a person through one of three prohibited means. Congress enacted § 1589 in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Kozminski, 487 U.S. 931 (1988), which interpreted § 1584 to require the use or threatened use of physical or legal coercion. Section 1589 broadens the definition of the kinds of coercion that might result in forced labor.”

The prohibited means are(1) by threats of serious harm to, or physical restraint against, that person or another person; (2) by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if the person did not perform such labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or (3) by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal process.

When we look closer under the Forced Labor and Prohibited means section it is apparent this could apply to almost EVERY H1B/L1 worker. However  the key component is the word “coercion”. When outsourcing companies dangle the proverbial “green card carrot”  and then don’t follow thru , this is considered a coercion, a crime under TVPA. It also clear this  a “scheme or plan” to get a worker to “believe” they are going to receive certain benefits. Companies make promises they know are just blatant lies. When benefits/promises are not kept and the workers complain, they are threatened with deportation, blackballing, withholding pay, and working long hours. All this in the name of cheap labor and replacing the American worker.

Now take in consideration the prohibited means. In 100% of people who have contacted me number 2 and 3 are present. This is very easy to prove in a court of law; hence why cases are going to mediation quickly.

TVPA lawsuits are starting to fly and there is little defense because the law is very clear and companies/clients are guilty and they know it. Clients such as Comcast and Fiat Chrysler try and hide behind the Master Service Agreements(MSA) however this does not hold up in a criminal proceeding. TVPA is a criminal  act which quickly turns to a civil settlement; however there is still room to prosecute the companies criminally.

In closing, there is more than one way to stop H1B/L1 fraud and this is one of them. The American worker is being displaced by illegal means and calculated schemes and this needs to stop.
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