House Passes Trafficking Survivor's Relief Act, Now the Senate Needs to Send Historic Bill to President Trump

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Trafficking Survivor's Relief Act Monday evening in a move that will make a difference for survivors of modern day slavery around the nation. Human trafficking victims are often coerced into committing crimes, such as prostitution, fraud, and identity theft, by their traffickers but once in the justice system, receive no recognition of their victim status, only a criminal record that damages their chances of escaping trafficking and the cycle of crime. This bill advocates for human trafficking victims by proposing expungement or sentence mitigation only for the crimes committed as a direct result of their trafficking, while ensuring survivors continue to work alongside law enforcement to hold the criminals behind these horrific crimes accountable.

The Trafficking Survivor’s Relief Act offers hope for trafficking victims by offering a pathway to break free from traffickers – while also breaking the cycle of crime that results from this version of modern day slavery. CPAC's Center for Combating Human Trafficking has supported this bill since its inception including its passage in the House Judiciary Committee in September and urges the continued progress of the bill toward becoming federal law. Thanks to the leadership of Representative Russell Fry, Representative Ann Wagner, and Speaker Mike Johnson, the Trafficking Survivor's Relief Act successfully passed in the House of Representatives. Now, CPAC calls on Senate leadership to follow suit and send this historic survivor-led legislation to the Oval Office for President Trump to sign into law.