Survivor Stories

Larry was a truck driver who stopped for the night at a busy truck stop. Before going to bed, Larry saw two females he believed to be minors knocking on the cab doors of various trucks parked around him. Larry had learned about human trafficking happening at truck stops from Truckers Against Trafficking and knew he needed to call the NHTH. The NHTH immediately responded by calling local police dispatch and filing a report with the human trafficking task force in that city. Law enforcement found both females that night and took them into protective custody. A few months later, a second truck driver reported that he had also seen minors soliciting commercial sex at the same truck stop and was able to provide more detailed information about the potential controllers. The NHTH sent this report to the same human trafficking task force who used this information as part of an ongoing investigation at this location.

Dorothy came to the U.S. from South America to work as a nanny for a wealthy family. After working for a few months, Dorothy called the hotline to talk about her employers.  She told the NHTH that she did not have control of her documents, had only left her employers' home a handful of times in the last few months, and did not interact with anyone other than her employers. Dorothy's employers had also convinced her that the wages and hours listed on her contract were just a formality and it was acceptable for her to be working around the clock and making nearly a third of what she was promised in her contract. The NHTH offered to connect Dorothy with a service provider and with trusted law enforcement contacts if she was interested in leaving.  Dorothy was hesitant because she needed the money from her job to support family members in her home country, and she was afraid to leave because she could not speak English well and was unfamiliar with U.S. laws and customs. Over three months, Dorothy called the hotline several times.  While she was not happy with her situation and believed she was being exploited, she did not want to get her employers in trouble because she also felt that they had treated her well.  The NHTH continued to provide Dorothy with support and options and made sure she knew that whenever she was ready to take the next step, the hotline would be there to assist.  One night Dorothy called the hotline and said she was ready, and wanted to leave.  The NHTH facilitated an extraction with law enforcement and connected Dorothy with a victim advocate and a case manager who were able to assist her in reporting her situation and provide her with secure shelter and other services.

When Daniel first called the NHTH, he was in a very remote area, a long way from his native home, and did not know his address. Daniel explained that he had come to the U.S. on a temporary work visa and began working on a farm with a group of mostly men who also held the same visa. After arriving, Daniel and his coworkers began working extremely long days with limited access to food and water and were paid less than they had been promised. He reported that his employer verbally abused the workers on a daily basis and also disclosed that he had witnessed his employer physically assault a coworker. Daniel explained that he and his coworkers all wanted to leave the farm, but could not do so. Daniel’s employer had confiscated some workers’ passports upon arrival and refused to give them back even though the workers had asked repeatedly. Even if they could get their passports back, the workers did not think they could leave. The nearest town was far away and the workers had no way of getting there. Daniel was also concerned because his visa was tied to his employer, and if he were to leave the farm abruptly, his visa would be invalid. He worried he might never be allowed to come to the U.S. again. The hotline specialist talked to Daniel about his options. Daniel and his coworkers decided they wanted to report the abuses occurring at the farm to law enforcement. The NHTH reported this situation to a federal law enforcement contact in the area. At the same time, the NHTH connected Daniel and the other workers with an attorney. The attorney later contacted the NHTH and explained that Daniel and his coworkers were able to safely leave the farm. A large scale investigation by the Department of Labor has been opened into this farm, and many of the workers have now been paid the back-wage payments they were owed by the employer.