Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2025
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2025 allows federal human trafficking victims to ask courts to erase their criminal records when their offenses were a direct result of being trafficked. For non-violent offenses (Level A), victims can move to vacate their conviction entirely and have all records expunged. For violent offenses (Level B), victims can seek expungement of arrest records under limited circumstances (acquittal, dismissed charges, or reduced charges). Imprisoned trafficking victims can petition for reduced sentences. The bill creates a new legal defense of duress for defendants who were trafficking victims at the time of their crime. All motions are filed under seal to protect victims. Courts can accept testimony from anti-trafficking service providers as sufficient evidence. The bill also ensures that grants for legal representation can be used for post-conviction relief. A GAO report assessing the impact is required within 3 years.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Allow victims of human trafficking to petition courts to vacate federal convictions for non-violent offenses and expunge arrest records when their criminal conduct was a direct result of being trafficked, establish a human trafficking defense for duress, and reduce sentences for trafficking victims convicted of violent crimes.
Who Benefits
- Human trafficking survivors with federal criminal records
- Anti-trafficking service providers
- Legal aid organizations
Who Bears Costs
- Federal courts (additional proceedings)
- U.S. Attorneys offices (responsive motions)
Key Policy Areas
{'domain': 'Criminal Justice', 'evidence': 'Creates motion to vacate convictions and expunge arrests under 18 USC Chapter 237'}, {'domain': 'Human Trafficking', 'evidence': 'Entire bill centers on relief for victims of trafficking as defined in TVPA'}, {'domain': 'Victims Rights', 'evidence': 'Establishes affirmative defense and post-conviction relief for trafficking survivors'}
Primary Purpose
Allow victims of human trafficking to petition courts to vacate federal convictions for non-violent offenses and expunge arrest records when their criminal conduct was a direct result of being trafficked, establish a human trafficking defense for duress, and reduce sentences for trafficking victims convicted of violent crimes.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Provide comprehensive post-conviction relief framework for trafficking survivors, recognizing that traffickers use forced criminality as a coercion tool"
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Coons, and Mr. …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Human trafficking survivors with federal records, Imprisoned trafficking victims, Trafficking survivors needing legal representation
Federal courts, Federal prosecutors, Government Accountability Office
Criminal defense attorneys, Legal aid organizations serving trafficking victims
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A Federal offense that is not a violent crime
A Federal offense that is a violent crime, excluding violent crimes of which a child was victim
As defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
As defined in section 16(a) of title 18 (crime of violence)
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