Arlington Student Drafts Bill To Protect Migrant Farm Workers

ARLINGTON, VA — A high school student from Arlington was one of the 15 students from around the DMV who participated in the Students Opposing Slavery International Summit from June 23-28.

The weeklong-summit took place at President Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, D.C., where the former president lived while developing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. '

Each of the 15 students drafted bills designed to promote the fight for freedom. The bills were presented on the final day of the summit.

Vivian Monaco of from Arlington presented a bill to expand and enforce protections for migrants in the U.S. on temporary H-2A visas and doing agricultural work.

A talk by Polaris, the anti-human-trafficking organization, on the first day of the summit inspired 16-year-old Monaco to draft her bill seeking to protect migrant workers. Not only did she learn about the prevalence of labor trafficking in urban areas, but also about how large-scale farming operations across the U.S. often violate and find loopholes with the workers' H-2A visas that lead to exploitation of the migrant workers.

“We hear a lot about rights in America — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it’s shocking to learn that there are a lot of people who don’t have these rights and never will," Monaco said.

Students Opposing Slavery is a non-profit initiative aimed at educating young people about human trafficking and to empower them to continue President Lincoln's fight for freedom.