BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2027
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2027 (Quirk) - As Amended March 31, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires specified state or local officials to certify
the cooperation of a victim of human trafficking in an
investigation or prosecution of those trafficking crimes, when
the victim is or has been cooperative, as specified, and
requests such certification on his or her application for a
special "T" visa (Form I-914 Supplement B declaration) to
temporarily remain in the U.S. The certifying entity is
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required to submit a specified annual report to the Legislature
before January 1, 2018, and annually thereafter.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Potential moderate local reimbursable state mandated costs in
excess of $300,000 (GF) by establishing a time-frame for
certifying entities to process Form I-914 Supplement B requests,
and for local certifying entities to report annually to the
Legislature.
During a six-year period, annual certifications provided by the
cities of Los Angeles and Oakland were 764 and 500,
respectively. If the cost to provide the certification were
$25, the reimbursable mandate to these two cities would be
$31,600. There are 58 counties and 482 cities and each of them
has at least one "agency" that qualifies as a certifying agency.
It is reasonable to assume that the number of certifications
statewide would be at least ten times those of the cities of Los
Angeles and Oakland combined. The reimbursable costs for
reporting will be minor.
Mandating compliance with federal law is not a reimbursable
mandate. However, federal law does not impose a timeframe, nor
does it require an annual report.
COMMENTS:
1)Background/Purpose. In 2000, Congress passed the Victims of
Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act (VTVPA) in order to
strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to
investigate and prosecute serious crimes and human
trafficking, while offering protections to victims of such
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crimes without the immediate risk of being removed from the
country. As part of the Act, Congress created two new visa
programs (the U-Visa and the T-visa) to allow victims of
certain crimes to apply to the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) to obtain temporary nonimmigrant
status. The U-Visa is open to non- U.S. citizens who are the
victims of serious qualifying crimes (e.g. sexual assault,
kidnapping, rape, and torture), while the T-Visa is open to
non-citizen victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking,
crimes defined by federal law. Both programs require the
victim applicant to provide evidence of certain eligibility
requirements and in the case, of the U-Visa, a certification
that the victim has been helpful to the investigation or
prosecution of the crime. In the case of an application for a
T-visa, USCIS gives significant weight (but does not require)
a certification of the victim's cooperation with the
investigation or prosecution when considering his or her
application.
SB 674 (De Leon), Chapter 721, Statutes of 2015, assists
victims applying for a U-Visa by expediting the process of
obtaining the necessary certification of helpfulness from the
appropriate certifying official handling the case.
AB 2027 is closely modeled after SB 674 and seeks to enact
similar provisions with respect to the T-Visa and its
accompanying certification of cooperation with the prosecution
or investigation of the human trafficking crime or crimes. To
be eligible for a T-Visa, the immigrant victim must meet four
statutory requirements, showing that he or she: (1) is or was
a victim of a severe form of trafficking in person, as defined
by federal law; (2) is in the United States or at a port of
entry due to trafficking; (3) has complied with any reasonable
request from law enforcement for assistance in the
investigation or prosecution of the crime; and (4) would
suffer extreme hardship if removed from the United States.
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According to the author: "The United States government
estimates that each year up to 50,000 people are trafficked
illegally into the United States against their will, mostly
women and children who are brought as sex slaves. Human
trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which
traffickers typically lure individuals with false promises of
employment and a better life. Victims of severe forms of
human trafficking are provided relief under U.S. immigration
law by the Victims of Trafficking in Persons nonimmigrant
visa, also known as 'T-visa.' The T-Visa provides trafficking
victims from foreign countries temporary legal status, with an
opportunity to apply for permanent residency and access to
federal benefits if they cooperate with law enforcement in the
investigations of their traffickers."
2)Support/Opposition. The bill is supported by the Police Chiefs
Association and the ACLU, who contend that the bill advances
the goals of the federal T visa program, while also increasing
public safety at the local level by ensuring that law
enforcement agencies can investigate and prosecute human
traffickers. The bill is opposed by the California State
Sheriffs' Association because they believe the rebuttable
presumption of cooperation goes too far in limiting their
discretion to make this determination.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 2027
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