Vacated But Not Forgotten: Why US Immigration Law Fails Non-Citizen Trafficking Survivors

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Courts and the Law: Research, Challenges, and Innovations

Abstract

While vacatur/expungement of criminal records has benefitted many trafficking survivors, these benefits vary depending on an individual’s citizenship status. The intersection of criminal records, particularly those that have been vacated or expunged, and immigration law is complex. Since the beginning of the current Trump administration, immigration enforcement policies have undergone substantial changes. This has led to increased scrutiny of non-citizens with criminal records. Join me in this talk to learn why the absence of a federal human trafficking vacatur law leaves non-citizen trafficking survivors with state vacated/expunged records vulnerable to deportation and other negative immigration enforcement outcomes.

Author

• Michelle Poirier, University of Massachusetts Lowell