The single mother, struggling to support two children in Thailand, knew she couldn't turn down a job offer as a cook in a Thai restaurant in Woodland Hills.
But when Thonglim Khamphiranon arrived at her new post, her boss -- described in government documents as the common-law wife of a Thai ambassador -- took away her passport, restricted her movements and forced her to work 17 hours a day, she said. She eventually escaped.
Based in part on her testimony, her boss, Supawan Veerapol, was convicted of involuntary servitude and harboring illegal immigrants. She was sentenced in 2000 to eight years in federal prison.
That's how the T-visa program is supposed to work. Khamphiranon is one of what government officials believe are thousands of people lured into the United States each year to work as prostitutes or indentured servants. She has been able to stay here under the special visa created by Congress five years ago to encourage trafficking victims to come forward.
But the program appears to be significantly underused. There are 5,000 T-visas available each year, but fewer than 600 have been issued, with 111 others pending.
Officials acknowledge that there is no way to know for sure how many victims are out there. Exploited immigrants rarely report crimes, fearing reprisals against themselves or relatives in their home countries.
"There are probably a lot more cases than what we are seeing," said Principal Deputy Assistant Atty. Gen. Bradley J. Schlozman. "But the true breadth of the problem is unknown."
Authorities said a lack of public awareness and poor victim outreach efforts also may be contributing to the low number of T-visa recipients.
"We assumed that victims would in large numbers escape the situation that they were in and come forward," said Wade Horn, an assistant secretary with the Department of Health and Human Services. "They didn't do that."
A UC Berkeley study earlier this year cited 57 cases of forced labor in California between 1998 and 2003. The majority of the victims were from Thailand and Mexico, forced to work as prostitutes, domestic slaves, farm laborers or sweatshop employees, according to the study.
Hoping to uncover more cases, federal authorities are taking a more active approach by forging partnerships with community organizations, setting up hotlines and training police officers, faith leaders and hospital workers to identify potential victims.
