Chap. 78

22 U.S.C.A. § 7101

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United States Code Annotated

Title 22. Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Chapter 78. Trafficking Victims Protection Act

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§ 7103. Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking

(a) Establishment

The President shall establish an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking.

(b) Appointment

The President shall appoint the members of the Task Force, which shall include the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Education, and such other officials as may be designated by the President.

(c) Chairman

The Task Force shall be chaired by the Secretary of State.

(d) Activities of the Task Force

The Task Force shall carry out the following activities:

(1) Coordinate the implementation of this chapter.

(2) Measure and evaluate progress of the United States and other countries in the areas of trafficking prevention, protection, and assistance to victims of trafficking, and prosecution and enforcement against traffickers, including the role of public corruption in facilitating trafficking. The Task Force shall have primary responsibility for assisting the Secretary of State in the preparation of the reports described in section 7107 of this title.

(3) Expand interagency procedures to collect and organize data, including significant research and resource information on domestic and international trafficking. Any data collection procedures established under this subsection shall respect the confidentiality of victims of trafficking.

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(7) Not later than May 1, 2004, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, a report on Federal agencies that are implementing any provision of this chapter, or any amendment made by this chapter, which shall include, at a minimum, information on--

(A) the number of persons who received benefits or other services under subsections (b) and (f) of section 7105 of this title in connection with programs or activities funded or administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Attorney General, the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, and other appropriate Federal agencies during the preceding fiscal year;

(B) the number of persons who have been granted continued presence in the United States under section 7105(c)(3) of this title during the preceding fiscal year and the mean and median time taken to adjudicate applications submitted under such section, including the time from the receipt of an application by law enforcement to the issuance of continued presence, and a description of any efforts being taken to reduce the adjudication and processing time while ensuring the safe and competent processing of the applications;

(C) the number of persons who have applied for, been granted, or been denied a visa or otherwise provided status under subparagraph (T)(i) or (U)(i) of section 1101(a)(15) of Title 8 during the preceding fiscal year;

(D) the number of persons who have applied for, been granted, or been denied a visa or status under clause (ii) of section 1101(a)(15)(T) of Title 8 during the preceding fiscal year, broken down by the number of such persons described in subclauses (I), (II), and (III) of such clause (ii);

(E) the amount of Federal funds expended in direct benefits paid to individuals described in subparagraph (D) in conjunction with T visa status;

(F) the number of persons who have applied for, been granted, or been denied a visa or status under section 1101(a)(15)(U)(i) of Title 8 during the preceding fiscal year;

(G) the mean and median time in which it takes to adjudicate applications submitted under the provisions of law set forth in subparagraph (C), including the time between the receipt of an application and the issuance of a visa and work authorization;

(H) any efforts being taken to reduce the adjudication and processing time, while ensuring the safe and competent processing of the applications;

(I) the number of persons who have been charged or convicted under one or more of sections 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1591, 1592, or 1594 of Title 18, during the preceding fiscal year and the sentences imposed against each such person;

(J) the amount, recipient, and purpose of each grant issued by any Federal agency to carry out the purposes of sections 7104 and 7105 of this title, or section 2152d of this title, during the preceding fiscal year;

(K) the nature of training conducted pursuant to section 7105(c)(4) of this title during the preceding fiscal year;

(L) the amount, recipient, and purpose of each grant under sections 14044a and 14044c of Title 42;

(M) activities by the Department of Defense to combat trafficking in persons, including--

(i) educational efforts for, and disciplinary actions taken against, members of the United States Armed Forces;

(ii) the development of materials used to train the armed forces of foreign countries;

(iii) all known trafficking in persons cases reported to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness;

(iv) efforts to ensure that United States Government contractors and their employees or United States Government subcontractors and their employees do not engage in trafficking in persons; and

(v) all trafficking in persons activities of contractors reported to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics;

(N) activities or actions by Federal departments and agencies to enforce--

(i) section 7104(g) of this title and any similar law, regulation, or policy relating to United States Government contractors and their employees or United States Government subcontractors and their employees that engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons, the procurement of commercial sex acts, or the use of forced labor, including debt bondage;

(ii) section 1307 of Title 19; relating to prohibition on importation of convict-made goods), including any determinations by the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive the restrictions of such section; and

(iii) prohibitions on the procurement by the United States Government of items or services produced by slave labor, consistent with Executive Order 13107 (December 10, 1998);

(O) the activities undertaken by the Senior Policy Operating Group to carry out its responsibilities under subsection (g) of this section; and

(P) the activities undertaken by Federal agencies to train appropriate State, tribal, and local government and law enforcement officials to identify victims of severe forms of trafficking, including both sex and labor trafficking;

(Q) the activities undertaken by Federal agencies in cooperation with State, tribal, and local law enforcement officials to identify, investigate, and prosecute offenses under sections 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1592, and 1594 of Title 18, or equivalent State offenses, including, in each fiscal year--

(i) the number, age, gender, country of origin, and citizenship status of victims identified for each offense;

(ii) the number of individuals charged, and the number of individuals convicted, under each offense;

(iii) the number of individuals referred for prosecution for State offenses, including offenses relating to the purchasing of commercial sex acts;

(iv) the number of victims granted continued presence in the United States under section 7105(c)(3) of this title; and

(v) the number of victims granted a visa or otherwise provided status under subparagraph (T)(i) or (U)(i) of section 1101(a)(15) of Title 8; and

(R) the activities undertaken by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to meet the specific needs of minor victims of domestic trafficking, including actions taken pursuant to subsection (f) and section 14044a(a) of Title 42, and the steps taken to increase cooperation among Federal agencies to ensure the effective and efficient use of programs for which the victims are eligible.

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§ 7105. Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking

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(b) Victims in the United States

(1) Assistance

(A) Eligibility for benefits and services

Notwithstanding title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, an alien who is a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, or an alien classified as a nonimmigrant under section 1101 (a)(15)(T)(ii) of Title 8, shall be eligible for benefits and services under any Federal or State program or activity funded or administered by any official or agency described in subparagraph (B) to the same extent as an alien who is admitted to the United States as a refugee under section 1157 of Title 8.

(B) Requirement to expand benefits and services

(i) In General

Subject to subparagraph (C) and, in the case of nonentitlement programs, to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, and the heads of other Federal agencies shall expand benefits and services to victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons in the United States, and aliens classified as a nonimmigrant under section 1101(a)(15)(T)(ii) of Title 8, without regard to the immigration status of such victims. In the case of nonentitlement programs funded by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, such benefits and services may include services to assist potential victims of trafficking in achieving certification and to assist minor dependent children of victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons or potential victims of trafficking.

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(C) Definition of victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons

For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons” means only a person--

(i) who has been subjected to an act or practice described in section 7102(8) of this title as in effect on October 28, 2000; and

(ii)(I) who has not attained 18 years of age; or

(II) who is the subject of a certification under subparagraph (E).

(D) Repealed. Pub.L. 108-193, § 6(a)(2), Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2880.

(E) Certification

(i) In general

Subject to clause (ii), the certification referred to in subparagraph (C) is a certification by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, after consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, that the person referred to in subparagraph (C)(ii)(II)--

(I) is willing to assist in every reasonable way in the investigation and prosecution of severe forms of trafficking in persons or is unable to cooperate with such a request due to physical or psychological trauma; and

(II)(aa) has made a bona fide application for a visa under section 1101(a)(15)(T) of Title 8, as added by subsection (e) of this section, that has not been denied; or

(bb) is a person whose continued presence in the United States the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security is [FN1] ensuring in order to effectuate prosecution of traffickers in persons.

(ii) Period of effectiveness

A certification referred to in subparagraph (C), with respect to a person described in clause (i)(II)(bb), shall be effective only for so long as the Attorney General [FN2] Secretary of Homeland Security determines [FN3] that the continued presence of such person is necessary to effectuate prosecution of traffickers in persons.

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