For over 10 years, FNUSA and its members have advocated for the passage of a comprehensive federal law to allow human trafficking survivors to clear criminal records related to their trafficking experience. On January 23, 2026, the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA) was signed into law. While this new law does not provide relief for all survivors, we hope it will provide some survivors with opportunities to rebuild their lives. We applaud Congress’s efforts in supporting survivors and urge Congress to quickly expand this law to benefit survivors who need this relief the most.
Human trafficking survivors are often left with both state and federal criminal records related to their trafficking experiences. Survivors may be forced to commit crimes as part of the trafficking scheme, or they may be arrested for crimes committed for survival. Some may even receive trafficking charges when they are forced to participate in the trafficking scheme and are not recognized as victims by the courts. Despite extensive training efforts, law enforcement and prosecutors rarely recognize the complex nature of trafficking in deciding whether or not to pursue charges against a survivor. Additionally, some criminal records predate the US human trafficking law, a time before the crime of ‘human trafficking’ even existed. These arrest and conviction records prevent survivors from accessing the housing, employment, and education that are critical to building financial stability.
While almost every state allows for vacatur of criminal records related to trafficking, the TSRA is the first federal criminal record relief law. Survivors drafted this legislation and advocated with Congress so that survivors with federal charges could clear these records and rebuild their lives. They focused on ensuring that survivors with a broad range of criminal charges would be eligible for relief; however, Congress reduced the crimes eligible for relief before passing this legislation. Despite over a decade of advocacy from survivors and advocates, the new law is limited. While the law is imperfect, we hope it will help many survivors find safer housing and better-paying jobs that will help them thrive.
This law is the product of many years of work from people with lived experience. It would not be possible without the survivors who spoke up, joined advocacy efforts, and participated in research. We must ensure survivors with broad experiences can inform policymaking from the beginning and when Congress negotiates bill changes. When they are not, the result is policies that help some survivors and leave others with no options.