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2000 - Federal Laws
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-386,1 created the framework for the “3P’s”: protection, prevention, and prosecution; established U and T nonimmigrant visas to provide immigration relief for survivors of crimes; and mandated the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report.
2003 - Federal Laws
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-193,2 created a civil remedy allowing trafficking victims to file lawsuits against their traffickers in federal court. The law also established a Senior Policy Operating Group within the executive branch to “coordinate activities of federal departments and agencies regarding policies involving the international trafficking in persons and the implementation of the TVPA.”
2005 - Federal Laws
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-164,3 provided extraterritorial jurisdiction over trafficking offenses committed overseas by persons employed by or accompanying the federal government and mandated the U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.
2008 - Federal Laws
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-457,4 expanded the crime of forced labor so that “force” encompasses the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process; imposed criminal liability on those who, knowingly and with intent to defraud, recruit workers from outside the U.S. for employment within the U.S. by making materially false or fraudulent representations; and provided information about workers’ rights to all people applying for work and education-based visas.
2013 - Federal Laws
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Pub. L. No. 112-239,5 provided authorities to end human trafficking in federal government contracting. The Federal Acquisition Regulation Council promulgated a final rule6 to implement this requirement on January 29, 2015.
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2013, Pub. L. No. 113-4,7 required, among other things, that the director of the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons—working with other government officials—build partnerships between the U.S. government and private entities to ensure that U.S. citizens do not use items, products, or materials produced by forced labor and that those entities do not contribute to trafficking in persons involving sexual exploitation. In addition, the law amended the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act to include labor contract fraud and extended the statute of limitations for a person to bring a civil action.
2015 - Federal Laws
The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-22,8 provided for the prosecution of individuals who patronize or solicit persons for a commercial sex act and established the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking to provide advice and recommendations to the Senior Policy Operating Group.
The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-125,9 repealed the “consumptive demand” exception in 19 U.S.C. § 1307. The exception had allowed importation of certain forced labor-produced goods if the goods were not produced “in such quantities in the U.S. as to meet the consumptive demands of the U.S.”
2018 - Federal Laws
The Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, Pub. L. No. 115-99,10 established the DOT Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking; appointed a human trafficking prevention coordinator; and expanded motor carrier funding and educational outreach programs to incorporate prevention activities.
The No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-106,11 included a lifetime commercial driver’s license disqualification for individuals who use a commercial motor vehicle in committing a felony involving a severe form of human trafficking.
The Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign Authorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-125,12 amended the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by codifying the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-254,13 among other things, required that flight attendants be trained to recognize and report human trafficking to customer-facing employees.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2017, Pub. L. No. 115-393,14 authorized grant funding to train school resource officers to recognize and respond to signs of human trafficking by reauthorizing the Creating Hope Through Outreach, Options, Services, and Education for Children and Youth (i.e., CHOOSE Children & Youth Grant Program) and created the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking.
The Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017, Pub. L. No. 115-392,15 established the National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking to incorporate a framework to prevent human trafficking and reduce demand for trafficking victims; improved services for trafficking survivors; and increased the maximum prison terms for certain offenses related to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, forced labor, and trafficking.
The SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-398,16 amended the Public Health Service Act to strengthen training and the response to human trafficking in the health care sector.
2019 - Federal Laws
The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-425,17 established standards training certain frontline workers in industries like transportation and bolstered efforts to keep goods made from forced labor from entering the U.S.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, Pub. L. No. 115-427,18 modified the criteria for how the U.S. determines if countries are meeting minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and what actions it can take against countries that fail to meet these standards.
2020 - Federal Laws
The United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement Implementation Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-113,19 established the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force and reporting requirements.
The Not Invisible Act of 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-166,20 increased intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat violent crime within Indian country and against Indians and established a commission to make recommendations on responding to violent crime, including human trafficking.
2021 - Federal Laws
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Pub. L. No. 117-58,21 authorized increased funding for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to support the recognition, prevention, and reporting of human trafficking, among other things.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 117-78,22 created a “rebuttable presumption” that assumes all goods from Xinjiang, China, are made with forced labor and barred imports unless the business can prove otherwise.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-81,23 required the director of the DHS Blue Campaign to develop online, interactive training videos and other web-based training opportunities for federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officers, among other things. The NDAA24 added a provision to the Fair Credit Reporting Act,25 which provides that a consumer reporting agency may not furnish a consumer report containing any adverse item of information about a consumer that resulted from a severe form of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking if the individual has provided trafficking documentation to the agency.
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