In December 2025, the US Advisory Council released its annual report detailing its recommendations for the US government agencies to improve their responses to human trafficking. The Council is made up of 13 survivor leaders and tasked with advising the President’s Interagency Task Force on improving US human trafficking policy. In the 2025 report, the Council chose to look back on the evolution of its recommendations over the past 10 years and highlight the many policies the US has yet to implement. FNUSA applauds the Council’s focus on addressing the root causes of trafficking and ensuring policies protect all survivors.
As the Council notes, all other anti-trafficking efforts’ success is hindered by the failure to address the root causes of trafficking: “Without comprehensive interventions that consider the underlying vulnerabilities of specific populations, such as men and boys, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, and labor trafficking victims, the effectiveness of anti-trafficking measures will remain limited.” The US government has made a choice not to invest in breaking down systemic barriers and cultural norms that fuel human trafficking in the US. Ignoring systemic vulnerabilities like poverty, violence, discrimination, and social neglect keeps people in states of vulnerability and hands traffickers tools to exploit.
The Council also highlights the substantial harm coming from the US immigration system. As protections for immigrant workers and unaccompanied children are weakened, these populations become increasingly vulnerable to experiencing exploitation and human trafficking. The Council recommends strengthening protections for immigrants in the US to prevent human trafficking. This recommendation is especially critical as the US government attempts to dismantle the few legal protections available to immigrant trafficking survivors and demonize immigrants.
Recommendations about improving the continuum of care for survivors are also included. Lived experience experts have long urged greater investment in long-term and comprehensive services for survivors. Our current services are too limited and prevent survivors from accessing the tools to help them with long-term healing and economic recovery. The Council notes that these services cannot be one size fits all: “The continuum of care required to support survivors cannot rely on a single approach, service, or pathway. It must prevent re-exploitation, offer multiple pathways to recovery, and remove barriers rooted in policy, stigma, bias, criminalization, and restrictive eligibility requirements.” When providers assume all survivors need the same services and restrictions, we leave out the majority of survivors who don’t fit this mold and can perpetuate exploitation by preventing them from having agency in decisions about their care.
We celebrate the Council’s perseverance in releasing this report in a year with substantial government censorship of reports. These recommendations show the US government is often years behind survivors in pursuing policies that benefit all survivors and address the root causes of human trafficking. As the State Department’s reorganization and funding cuts are dismantling trafficking programs worldwide, the Council needs to be protected. Its role as an independent body of experts providing recommendations to the US government is essential.