Avantika Rao '02 Featured in SF Public Press Human Trafficking Article
Avantika Rao '02 figures prominently in an SF Public Press article on the T-1 Nonimmigrant Status visa, a special visa created 12 years ago to aid victims of human trafficking. The visa provides trafficking victims from foreign countries with temporary legal status and an opportunity to apply for permanent residency and access to federal benefits if they cooperate with law enforcement in the investigations of their traffickers. Rao comments on the case of a Peruvian victim of trafficking who she helped to obtain a T visa despite numerous legal obstacles. Rao was awarded a Jack W. Londen Award by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011 for her work on the case.