Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025
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The bill would reauthorize through fiscal year 2029 the federal government's core anti-human-trafficking programs, including grants to end modern slavery abroad and International Megan's Law tracking of sex offenders' overseas travel, while creating a new Department of Health and Human Services program to help trafficking survivors reintegrate into society.
It would also revise how the State Department ranks countries on human-trafficking efforts, add organ-trafficking data to its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, and require more counter-trafficking safeguards in U.S. foreign assistance, extending a policy framework that shapes both domestic victim services and diplomatic pressure on other nations.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would reauthorize, through fiscal year 2029, multiple programs under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the Program to End Modern Slavery grants, and International Megan's Law, updating authorized funding levels for victim services, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and housing assistance grants for trafficking victims. It would rename and expand school-based trafficking-prevention education grants, create a new HHS-run Human Trafficking Survivors Employment and Education Program offering job training, education, and case-management services for up to five years, and require HHS to report annually on the education grants' reach and outcomes. It would also change how the State Department evaluates foreign countries' anti-trafficking efforts, narrowing the criteria for placement on the "Tier 2 Watch List" and lengthening how long a downgraded-then-reinstated country can stay on that list. It would add organ-trafficking data to the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, require counter-trafficking safeguards in foreign aid programs, and clarify what foreign assistance counts as "nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related" for sanctions purposes.
Key provisions
- 1Would rename and expand school-based trafficking prevention education grants, adding priority criteria, data collection requirements, and annual public reporting by HHS
- 2Would authorize HHS to establish a Human Trafficking Survivors Employment and Education Program providing job training, education, and case management for up to five years
- 3Would reauthorize Program to End Modern Slavery grants through FY2029 and extend related reporting deadlines
- 4Would narrow the criteria for the State Department's Tier 2 Watch List and extend how long reinstated countries may remain on it
- 5Would require U.S. foreign assistance programs to incorporate counter-trafficking safeguards and avoid worsening trafficking vulnerability from disasters
- 6Would require the annual Trafficking in Persons Report to include information on trafficking for organ removal
- 7Would reauthorize funding for Trafficking Victims Protection Act programs and International Megan's Law through fiscal year 2029
Who would be affected
Trafficking survivors in the U.S. and abroad eligible for federal victim services, local school districts and students receiving prevention education, the Departments of Health and Human Services, State, and Homeland Security, nonprofit and Tribal service providers under cooperative agreements, and foreign governments evaluated in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
Why it matters
Without reauthorization, several existing anti-trafficking programs and their funding authorizations would lapse. The new employment and education program could give adult survivors up to five years of structured support toward self-sufficiency, while changes to country tier rankings and foreign-assistance rules could shift diplomatic and funding pressure on governments accused of tolerating trafficking.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7104(b)) (Sec. 101)
Renames trafficking-recognition grants as Frederick Douglass Human Trafficking Prevention Education Grants and adds priority criteria and reporting requirements
Reauthorizes National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, Program to End Modern Slavery grants (22 U.S.C. 7114) (Sec. 201)
Extends grant authority and related reporting deadlines from 2020 to 2029
Amends Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Section 110 (22 U.S.C. 7107) (Secs. 202, 204, 205)
Narrows Tier 2 Watch List criteria, extends reinstatement time limits, and revises withheld-assistance and organ-trafficking reporting provisions
Amends Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) (Sec. 203)
Adds counter-trafficking policy as a development cooperation priority and requires safeguards against trafficking risk in aid programs
Amends Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4205) (Sec. 206)
Removes a duplicative reporting requirement and updates a cross-reference to the Tier 2 Watch List
Amends William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Sec. 208)
Requires a printed hardcopy version of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report be made publicly available
Reauthorizes International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation (34 U.S.C. 21509) (Sec. 302)
Extends authorized funding from fiscal years 2018-2021 to 2025-2029
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Tier 2 Watch List and organ-trafficking reporting amendments
- HHS report on prevention education grants
Funding and costs
- $23,000,000
General Trafficking Victims Protection Act authorizations
- $30,755,000
Programs under sections 106(b) and 107(b), including $5,000,000 for the National Human Trafficking Hotline and public education campaigns
- $111,000,000
Trafficking victims protection programs under section 113(c)(1)
- $37,500,000
Programs to end modern slavery, capped share of section 113(c) funds
- $35,000,000
Office of Victims of Crime Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Human Trafficking
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 1144 would cost $1,073 million (about $1.1 billion) in discretionary spending subject to appropriation over the 2025–2035 period, with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
H.R. 1144 would reauthorize programs to combat human trafficking administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, and State. CBO finds no effect on direct (mandatory) spending or revenues, so there is no impact on the deficit. The bill would authorize approximately $1,126 million in discretionary appropriations over the 2025–2030 period; CBO estimates actual outlays of $654 million over 2025–2030 and $1,073 million over the full 2025–2035 window, reflecting typical spending lags. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
HHS would implement the new survivor employment and education program through competitive cooperative agreements with nongovernmental organizations experienced in serving trafficking victims, subject to available appropriations, with eligible individuals receiving services for up to five cumulative years. HHS must also consult other agencies to identify at-risk populations and publish annual public reports on the prevention-education grants. The State Department would apply revised Tier 2 Watch List criteria and expanded reporting requirements in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, with certain amendments taking effect at the start of the next full reporting cycle after enactment.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Official CRS summary
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Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025
This bill reauthorizes programs and activities that combat international trafficking; establishes a new program to help victims of trafficking; and updates various elements of the federal framework to combat international trafficking.
Specifically, this bill reauthorizes through FY2029 programs and activities at various federal departments and agencies to combat international trafficking and reduce the prevalence of modern slavery. The bill also reauthorizes International Megan’s Law through FY2029. Among its provisions, the law requires sex offenders to provide certain information about their intended travel outside of the United States.
Additionally, the bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out a new program to help victims of trafficking integrate or reintegrate into society.
The bill requires the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report to include information about trafficking in persons for the purposes of organ removal.
With respect to country rankings for anti-trafficking efforts, the bill narrows the types of countries that are listed on the Tier 2 Watch List and increases the length of time a country may remain on the Tier 2 Watch List after being downgraded to the lowest ranking and then reinstated to the watch list. (The Tier 2 Watch List refers to countries that are making efforts to meet international standards for combatting human trafficking but still have a significant number of severe trafficking cases.)
Finally, the bill requires counter-trafficking strategies, activities, and efforts to be further incorporated into U.S. foreign assistance.
Legislative subjects
Adult education and literacy; Child safety and welfare; Community life and organization; Congressional oversight; Crime and Law Enforcement; Crime prevention; Crime victims; Crimes against children; Data collection, sharing, protection; Domestic violence and child abuse; Education programs funding; Elementary and secondary education; Foreign aid and international relief; Government information and archives; Government studies and investigations; Human trafficking; Intergovernmental relations; Performance measurement; Sanctions; Smuggling and trafficking; Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations; State and local government operations; Teaching, teachers, curricula