Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

Legislative History

Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey introduced the Bill in the House of Representatives on November 8, 1999. The Bill's clearly defined aim was,

"To combat trafficking of persons, especially into the sex trade, slavery, and slavery-like conditions, in the United States and countries around the world through prevention , through prosecution and enforcement against traffickers, and through protection and assistance to victims of trafficking"

March 11, 1998

President Bill Clinton called for legislative action to attack the issue of human trafficking

- Three main components: Prevention, Protection, and Support for victims

Legislative Process

Key elements of Clinton's policy proposal

• Create a new non-immigrant visa classification for exploited people of trafficking
• Preventative measures and philanthropic aid to victimized people who, because of their unlawful presence within the US were ineligible to request government support
• Implement more effective anti-trafficking efforts
• Harsher punishments for traffickers as well as those who benefited from the trafficking itself.

• November 22, 1999-- the Bill was amended by the Committee on International Relations. A single amendment was added which was to add a paragraph to the "findings" section of the bill. The Committee agreed to a motion to favorably report the Bill to the House
• Bill was then introduced to the Judiciary Committee on April 13, 2000. Two amendments were proposed
• The removal of the 5,000-person cap for visas and adjustments of status for trafficking, "if the Attorney General determines that it should be exceeded by a specific number in any year for humanitarian reasons
• This amendment was defeated
• Allowed for family members of victims of trafficking to receive visas without the family members having to demonstrate severe suffering
• Amendment was also defeated

Signed Into Law: October 28,2000

Human Trafficking as defined by the United Nations

Practices Prior to Policy

Before the publication of the Act, the government routinely detained and deported victims to their home countries if they were not material witnesses.

Human Trafficking Statistics

- Estimates of the total number of people trafficked across international borders each year vary from 700,000 to 2 million

- Of those people, an estimated 80% are female with 70% of those females being trafficked for the singular purpose of sexual exploitation.

- Profits reach 7 to 10 billion U.S. dollars each year making the illegal sex industry the third largest criminal enterprise in the world behind the trade in drugs and arms.

The signed law specified a variety of provisions to be enacted:

• The contribution of $95 million over the course of two years
• To aid in the creation of new assistance programs as well as the as the continued enforcement of anti-trafficking provisions
• Strict punishment, such as life imprisonment, for individuals who have been convicted of conducting human trafficking within the U.S. as well as providing for severe economic consequences for traffickers in countries outside the United States.

" The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, or deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation includes, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor, or services, slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs"

'Hidden America' Video

Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

TVPA Goals:

- Prevent human trafficking overseas

- Protect victims and help them rebuild their lives in the US with Federal and State support

- Prosecute traffickers of persons under strict Federal Penalties

Specifications to Receive Benefits

Under the TVPA, only victims of "severe forms of trafficking" are eligible for benefit and aid. According to the TVPA severe trafficking is defined as,

(A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years or age; or

(B) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor service, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery (H.R. 3244)

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000

Questions??

Benefits Provided

Funding

The 2016 Federal Budget proposes $10,500,000 for the TVPA program.

Sadly, this proposed budget represents a significant decrease in funding. The 2015 Budget allocated an estimated $39,000,000 to the program’s activity.

This decrease in funding will likely result in much less support and benefits for the victims.

One can also draw the conclusion that the already strict requirements and provisions will become even more stringent and severe thus allowing for fewer victims to become legitimatized by the Department of Health and Human Services as victim of “severe trafficking”.

Policy Weaknesses

Upon receiving certification from the Department of Health and Human Services, victims are then qualified for benefits such as immigration relief:

• Continued presence within the country, or occasionally a T visa
• Shelter
• Food
• Legal Assistance
• Translation assistance
• Compensation

Prior to the authorization of the TVPA, a 1999 CIA report recounted that fifty thousand women and children were trafficked into the United States each year

• "Since the passage of TVPA in 2000 through the end of 2003, only 448 victims have been certified or issued refugee benefits eligibility letters from the Department of Health and Human services"
• This demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the TVPA in making substantial and quantifiable changes for the victims of trafficking

Policy Strengths

Policy Weaknesses Cont.

Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

• Criminalizes and enhances the penalties for human trafficking
• Provides social and legal benefits, including visas to the victims of trafficking both domestically and internationally
• The TVPA also rightly recognizes that a large majority of those victimized by sex trafficking are not currently in the US with an immigration status that would allow them to gain access to government assistance, such as housing, food stamps, and monetary support. To address this, the TVPA includes such specifications for helping trafficking victims who are in the United States

• Minimal numbers may largely be due to the strictness of the requirements specified in order to receive benefits under the TVPA
• Victims must also be willing to provide assistance in the legal investigation and prosecution of their trafficker-- this requirement may reduce the number of victims who seek help, fearing potential repercussion by assisting in the prosecution of their trafficker
• The victim in question must have made a legitimate application for a ‘T visa’ which has not been denied, or their continued presence in the United States must be necessary for the prosecution of the traffickers