Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act creates a federal post-conviction and trial framework for trafficking survivors. New section 3771A lets survivors seek vacatur or expungement for covered federal convictions, with different treatment for nonviolent and violent offenses and exclusions for violent offenses involving child victims. U.S. attorneys must report motion volume, underlying offenses, responses, and court outcomes; the Attorney General must report training on trafficking indicators; and GAO must assess the law's impact. The bill also prevents OJP and OVW from barring legal-representation grants from supporting post-conviction relief, and it creates a trafficking duress defense with record-sealing protections.
Who Benefits and How
Human trafficking survivors benefit because convictions tied to trafficking coercion can be vacated, expunged, mitigated, or defended against. Covered prisoners benefit because imprisoned survivors can seek relief from qualifying federal convictions. Victim-service legal providers benefit because federal grants can support post-conviction representation. Federal defenders benefit from an explicit duress presumption when a trafficking survivor proves the offense was trafficking-induced.
Who Bears the Burden and How
United States attorneys must respond to motions and submit district-level reports to the Attorney General. Federal courts must handle vacatur, expungement, sealing, and trafficking-duress determinations. The Department of Justice must track training on trafficking indicators and administer grant-use policy changes. GAO must evaluate survivor filings, case outcomes, and implementation effects after enactment.
Key Provisions
- Creates federal vacatur and expungement procedures for trafficking survivors with covered convictions.
- Provides a rebuttable duress presumption for covered federal offenses committed while the defendant was trafficked.
- Requires U.S. attorney, Attorney General, and GAO reports on motions, training, and implementation.
- Protects grant-funded legal representation for post-conviction relief work.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates federal vacatur, expungement, duress-defense, sealing, reporting, and grant-use protections for human trafficking survivors charged or convicted of covered federal offenses.
Key Policy Areas
Human Trafficking, Criminal Justice, Victim Services
Primary Purpose
Creates federal vacatur, expungement, duress-defense, sealing, reporting, and grant-use protections for human trafficking survivors charged or convicted of covered federal offenses.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Human trafficking survivors
- Covered prisoners
- Victim-service legal providers
- Federal defenders
Identified Costs
- United States attorneys
- Federal courts
- Department of Justice
- GAO
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Fry (for himself, Mr. Lieu, Mrs. Wagner, and Mr. …
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology