YourVoice.Now Summary
Criminal Justice & Due ProcessYour MoneyCivil LibertiesTransparency & AccountabilityA trafficking victim forced into crime could ask a federal judge to wipe the record clean, for free.
Criminal Justice & Due Process
A survivor could ask the court that sentenced them to throw out the conviction. Murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and assault with a gun are excluded; every other federal crime qualifies if the trafficking directly caused it.
An arrest for a violent charge could be erased only if the person was acquitted or the charges were dropped. Arrests for other federal crimes could be erased if they were directly tied to the trafficking.
Only people now in federal prison could get a shorter sentence. It covers violent crimes too, but not violent crimes against a child. The person, the head of federal prisons, or the judge could start it.
The process reaches back to any conviction or arrest, whenever it happened. There is no cutoff date and no window to miss.
A defendant who shows by clear and convincing proof that they were trafficked at the time would be presumed to have acted under threat. Prosecutors could rebut that, and records about the claim stay sealed unless the person is convicted.
The judge must consider a sworn statement from a licensed trafficking counselor or clinician. That statement alone can be enough, if the judge finds it believable and no other proof is easy to get.
Your Money
A survivor may raise the trafficking defense and lose. That loss could not be used to bar them from federal programs that help trafficking victims.
Two Justice Department grant offices fund legal help. They could no longer forbid grantees from using that money to help people clear old convictions.
No court could charge a filing fee, service charge, copy fee, or any other cost for these motions. Filing would cost the survivor nothing.
Clearing a conviction does not require a court to change any fine or payment owed to crime victims. Those orders can still stand.
Civil Liberties
Every motion, document, and order in these cases is filed under seal. Government staff may not release anything that names the person.
Once a record is cleared, federal law treats the person as it did before the arrest. That status can matter on job and housing applications.
Transparency & Accountability
Congress's watchdog office must report back within three years. It must count how many survivors filed, what courts decided, and suggest ways to widen access.
Court records are normally open to the public. These cases would be closed, so no one could look up who filed or how it turned out.
More about this bill
People forced into crime by human traffickers could ask a federal judge to clear their record. A survivor could ask to erase a federal conviction if being trafficked directly caused the crime. Most federal crimes qualify. The exceptions are murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and assault with a gun. Arrest records could be erased too. For those violent charges, the case must have ended without a conviction. Old cases count, no matter how many years have passed. People still in federal prison could ask for a shorter sentence, even for a violent crime. Violent crimes against children are left out. The judge would first weigh the danger to others and the views of crime victims. The head of federal prisons, or the judge, could also start this review. At trial, a defendant who strongly proves they were being trafficked would be presumed to have acted under threat (duress). Prosecutors could still argue otherwise. Filing would be free. A sworn statement from a licensed trafficking counselor could be enough proof by itself. Every filing would be sealed, so the survivor's name stays private. Fines and restitution orders would still stand. Federal legal aid grants could pay lawyers to handle these cases. Congress's watchdog office (the GAO) would report on the results within three years.
Congressional Summary
Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2025 This bill 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. The bill permits certain grants for legal representation to be used to seek post-conviction relief. Finally, the bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a defendant committed certain offenses under duress if the defendant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that he or she was a victim of human trafficking at the time of the offense.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-02-14
- Date Added
- 2026-10-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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