ATEST has formally submitted 21 funding requests across seven federal agencies to congressional appropriations subcommittees. The letters ask Congress to increase funding in several programs for FY2025, while holding the line on others. Four congressional subcommittees control the bulk of federal spending on human trafficking programs, including grants to civil society groups at home and abroad. The ATEST letters: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Department of Home ..read more

In a resounding bipartisan vote Tuesday evening, the House of Representatives passed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act (H.R. 5856). The vote was 414 to 11. The U.S. has the world’s most comprehensive governmental effort to fight human trafficking, and this law is the reason why. It’s the blueprint for comprehensive action at home and abroad. Updating and reauthorizing the act is essential to maintaining America’s leadership. The reauthorized bill includes more than $1 billion in spending authorizations for federal programs and grants to nonprofit organiza ..read more

February 1, 2024 The Honorable Cindy Dyer Ambassador-at-Large U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) RE: Request for Information for the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report, United States Government (Public Notice: 12260 | 88 FR 77398) Dear Ambassador Dyer: Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the creation of the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report. The J/TIP team’s diligence in soliciting and integrating information from civil society organizations bolsters the credibility of the TIP Report as a tool to promote global governmental action. AT ..read more

February 1st  is Freedom Day, the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865 to abolish legal slavery in the United States. It caps off National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time to reflect on that fact that forced labor still exists in the U.S., and to spotlight efforts to end it. The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking is pleased that two bills were introduced in Congress during Trafficking Prevention Month to help protect survivors. Trafficking Survivor Relief Act (TSRA): Most states have enacted legislation that allows ..read more

The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) is pleased to endorse reauthorization of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act (TVPRA). H.R. 5856, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), and introduced with many bipartisan co-sponsors including Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), has been developed in consultation with ATEST. The bill includes more than $225 million per year for the next five years in renewed funding authorizations for domestic and international anti-trafficking programs at the Departments of State, Justice, and Health and ..read more

The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking is pleased to support reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, introduced earlier this month. A significant percentage of unhoused youth become trafficking victims. The bipartisan bill addresses root causes and provides services for the vulnerable. Here is the news release from the bill’s sponsors: Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention ..read more

Stressing the need for “whole-of-government” solutions, ATEST Director Terry FitzPatrick testified before a joint hearing of two Congressional subcommittees this week. The committees were investigating human trafficking along the southern border, and connections to transnational criminal cartels. FitzPatrick noted that not all forced labor and human trafficking is related to undocumented migration, and that American companies ultimately profit from trafficking of migrants to the U.S. FitzPatrick advocated for three solutions: Pass the Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorizat ..read more

ATEST is pleased to announce our endorsement of bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday that will strengthen efforts to prevent the import of goods tainted by forced labor into the United States (S. 3217). Here’s the news release issued by the bill’s co-sponsors: Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today introduced the Manifest Modernization Act, legislation to shine a light on imports and bring greater transparency to shipping manifests. Under current law, only ocean vessels must publicly disclose manifest information.  T ..read more

  With a surge in public interest from a summer movie about international child sex trafficking and recent news reports of child labor abuses at workplaces in the United States, Congress is looking to enact new legislation to address human trafficking and forced labor. To encourage Congress to resist rushing new and untested methods into legislation this fall, Freedom Network USA, the National Survivor Network, and the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking co-hosted a special congressional briefing on September 14, 2023. The event was the first of its kind. Instead of Wa ..read more

September 8, 2023 Dear Members of Congress: When survivors of violence or crime are deciding whether to reach out for help, they are often scared, unsure who they can trust, and taking a huge leap of faith. Knowing that they can choose when, how, and if they want to report their situation to law enforcement is a fundamental part of honoring their consent in ways their traffickers never have. H.R.2601 is a bill that would turn the National Human Trafficking Hotline into a law enforcement tip line. Since it is a standard practice to not automatically report to law enforcement in other kinds of h ..read more