Trafficking Survivors Relief Act
Key claim: The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act creates a federal process for vacating convictions and expunging arrest records of human trafficking victims for offenses that resulted from their trafficking, and allows trafficking victimization to establish a duress defense.
Abstract
(HR4323 · 119th Congress) Trafficking Survivors Relief Act This act establishes a process to vacate convictions and expunge arrest records for certain criminal offenses committed by victims of human trafficking that directly result from or relate to having been a trafficking victim. It defines the offenses eligible to be vacated or expunged and sets forth procedures for filing a motion. The Government Accountability Office must assess the impact of this process, including the number of human trafficking survivors who file motions to vacate convictions or expunge records. Under the act, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices must report to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the number of motions to vacate convictions or expunge arrest records that are filed. Additionally, the DOJ must report to Congress on professional training received by U.S. Attorneys on indicators of human trafficking during the preceding 12-month period. The act permits certain grants for legal representation to be used to seek post-conviction relief. Finally, the act allows a defendant to establish, as a defense, that the offenses were committed under duress by demonstrating that he or she was a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense. Latest action (2026-01-23): Became Public Law No: 119-73.
Why this matters
For trafficking survivors, criminal records for offenses committed under coercion have long been a durable barrier to housing, work, and immigration relief, even after victim status is recognized. Creating a federal vacatur/expungement route and an explicit trafficking-based duress defense shifts survivors from being treated primarily as offenders to being recognized as coerced parties, and gives federal courts a uniform mechanism where previously only a patchwork of state vacatur laws existed.