We recently marked the 25th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), fundamentally transforming how America confronts modern slavery. As we commemorate this milestone, the law’s reauthorization hangs in the balance, at the moment when recent cuts to the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) threaten to undermine a quarter-century of progress.
I’ve witnessed the TVPA from both sides: as a senior congressional adviser at the TIP Office, where I saw how American leadership catalyzed global action, and now as senior director of policy and government relations at Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT), where I work with survivors and advocates navigating systems the TVPA created. This dual perspective makes clear what we stand to lose if Congress fails to reauthorize this landmark law.
Before the TVPA, human trafficking existed in a legal gray zone. Law enforcement did not consistently prosecute cases, and the justice system often retraumatized victims, sometimes treating them as criminals — arrested for prostitution or immigration violations — while their exploiters operated with near impunity. The TVPA changed everything by establishing a comprehensive “3P” framework: prevention, protection and prosecution.
The law’s genius lay in recognizing that trafficking is a human rights abuse and a transnational crime requiring a coordinated response. It created a civil cause of action for trafficking victims; established specialized protective visa categories for survivors; and mandated robust services, including housing, medical care and legal assistance.
Internationally, it positioned the United States as the global leader in anti-trafficking efforts through the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which ranks more than 180 countries — including the United States — on their anti-trafficking performance and links poor ratings to potential sanctions.
The results speak for themselves. Since 2000, federal prosecutions of human traffickers have increased dramatically, and all states have passed anti-trafficking laws, most modeled on the TVPA’s framework. Internationally, the law has persuaded or pressured countries worldwide to strengthen their legal responses, resulting in thousands of prosecutions and convictions.
The TVPA requires periodic reauthorization to maintain funding and adapt to evolving trafficking tactics. The last reauthorization of the international provisions expired in 2021, leaving critical programs vulnerable. Meanwhile, trafficking has evolved: online grooming of child victims; the large-scale trafficking of people into cyber-scam compounds where they are forced to defraud unwitting victims, including Americans; and migration crises have created vulnerabilities that demand updated legislative tools.
Reauthorization efforts face an unprecedented obstacle: recent cuts to the TIP Office. The office that produces the gold-standard TIP Report and coordinates America’s whole-of-government anti-trafficking strategy is being hollowed out. Dramatic staff reductions, budget cuts, and the lack of a president-appointed, Senate-confirmed ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons undermine our credibility on trafficking, reduce our diplomatic leverage, and signal wavering American commitment to a cause we pioneered.
This couldn’t come at a worse time. Authoritarian governments already chafe at the TIP Report’s scrutiny. Any perception that America is retreating from anti-trafficking leadership invites global backsliding. Countries that have strengthened laws and enforcement under U.S. pressure may view these cuts as permission to deprioritize trafficking, leaving millions more vulnerable to exploitation.
The irony is stark: as Congress debates reauthorization, the office central to its implementation is being diminished. It’s like renovating a house while dynamiting its foundation.
In the nonprofit community dedicated to combating trafficking, we see daily how survivors depend on TVPA protections: the “T” visa that allows victims to remain in the United States while cooperating with investigations; the grants that fund safe housing and trauma-informed care; the legal framework that empowers survivors to seek restitution from their traffickers. These aren’t abstract policies; they’re lifelines to those who have survived human trafficking.
Congress must act to reauthorize the TVPA with robust funding, strengthen the TIP Office to ensure its effective implementation, and provide survivors with the resources they need to move forward. These aren’t partisan issues. Every reauthorization since 2000 has enjoyed bipartisan support because the moral case is unassailable and the practical case is proven. In the 117th and 118th Congresses, TVPA reauthorization bills passed unanimously, but Congress was unable to send a single unified bill to the president’s desk. Trafficking survivors cannot afford for Congress to fail a third time.
Twenty-five years ago, Congress declared that the United States would be a leader in the fight against human trafficking. That leadership strengthened laws worldwide and offered hope and a pathway forward for survivors, but leadership is not a one-time declaration. It’s a continuous commitment that requires resources, institutions and political will.
As we honor the TVPA’s anniversary, let’s ensure the next 25 years build on this foundation rather than watch it crumble. Survivors are counting on us. The world is watching. Congress has the opportunity and the obligation to act.