§ 7103. Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking

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(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, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Treasury, the United States Trade Representative, 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 and providing an annual report on the case referrals received from the national human trafficking hotline by Federal departments and agencies. Any data collection procedures and reporting requirements established under this subsection shall respect the confidentiality of victims of trafficking.

(4)Engage in efforts to facilitate cooperation among countries of origin, transit, and destination. Such efforts shall aim to strengthen local and regional capacities to prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers and assist trafficking victims, and shall include initiatives to enhance cooperative efforts between destination countries and countries of origin and assist in the appropriate reintegration of stateless victims of trafficking.

(5)Examine the role of the international “sex tourism” industry in the trafficking of persons and in the sexual exploitation of women and children around the world.

(6)Engage in consultation and advocacy with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, among other entities, to advance the purposes of this chapter, and make reasonable efforts to distribute information to enable all relevant Federal Government agencies to publicize the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline on their websites, in all headquarters offices, and in all field offices throughout the United States.

(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 1 the Committee on Financial Services,, 2 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 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)3 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 20702 and 20705 of title 34; 3

(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 and Sustainment;

(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); and 4

(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, 1591, 1592, 1594, 2251, 2251A, 2421, 2422, and 2423 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;

(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;

(vi)the number of individuals required by a court order to pay restitution in connection with a violation of each offense under title 18, the amount of restitution required to be paid under each such order, and the amount of restitution actually paid pursuant to each such order;

(vii)the age, gender, race, country of origin, country of citizenship, and description of the role in the offense of individuals convicted under each offense; and

(viii)the number of convictions obtained under chapter 77 of title 18, aggregated separately by the form of offense committed with respect to the victim, including recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, advertising, maintaining, patronizing, or soliciting a human trafficking victim;

(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 20702(a) 3 of title 34, 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;

(S)tactics and strategies employed by human trafficking task forces sponsored by the Department of Justice to reduce demand for trafficking victims;

(T)the efforts of the United States to eliminate money laundering related to human trafficking and the number of investigations, arrests, indictments, and convictions in money laundering cases with a nexus to human trafficking;

(U)with respect to applications described in subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (F), when available, if the application was denied, the reason for the denial and the length of time it took for the denial to be issued; and

(V)disaggregated data regarding—

(i)the number of victims trafficked by third parties and by family members;

(ii)victims trafficked by victim age; and

(iii)victims trafficked by the type of trafficking.

(e)Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking

(1)In general The Secretary of State shall establish within the Department of State an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, which shall provide assistance to the Task Force. Any such Office shall be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the rank of Ambassador-at-Large. The Director shall have the primary responsibility for assisting the Secretary of State in carrying out the purposes of this chapter and may have additional responsibilities as determined by the Secretary. The Director shall consult with nongovernmental organizations and multilateral organizations, and with trafficking victims or other affected persons. The Director shall have the authority to take evidence in public hearings or by other means. The agencies represented on the Task Force are authorized to provide staff to the Office on a nonreimbursable basis.

(2)United States assistance The Director shall be responsible for—

(A)all policy, funding, and programming decisions regarding funds made available for trafficking in persons programs that are centrally controlled by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking; and

(B)coordinating any trafficking in persons programs of the Department of State or the United States Agency for International Development that are not centrally controlled by the Director.

(f)Regional strategies for combating trafficking in persons Each regional bureau in the Department of State shall contribute to the realization of the anti-trafficking goals and objectives of the Secretary of State. Each year, in cooperation with the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, each regional bureau shall submit a list of anti-trafficking goals and objectives to the Secretary of State for each country in the geographic area of responsibilities of the regional bureau. Host governments shall be informed of the goals and objectives for their particular country and, to the extent possible, host government officials should be consulted regarding the goals and objectives.

(g)Senior Policy Operating Group

(1)Establishment There shall be established within the executive branch a Senior Policy Operating Group.

(2)Membership; related matters

(A)In general The Operating Group shall consist of the senior officials designated as representatives of the appointed members of the Task Force (pursuant to Executive Order No. 13257 of February 13, 2002).

(B)Chairperson The Operating Group shall be chaired by the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the Department of State.

(C)Meetings The Operating Group shall meet on a regular basis at the call of the Chairperson.

(3)Duties The Operating Group shall coordinate activities of Federal departments and agencies regarding policies (including grants and grant policies) involving the international trafficking in persons and the implementation of this chapter.

(4)Availability of information Each Federal department or agency represented on the Operating Group shall fully share all information with such Group regarding the department or agency’s plans, before and after final agency decisions are made, on all matters relating to grants, grant policies, and other significant actions regarding the international trafficking in persons and the implementation of this chapter.

(5)Regulations Not later than 90 days after December 19, 2003, the President shall promulgate regulations to implement this section, including regulations to carry out paragraph (4).

(Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 105, Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1473; Pub. L. 108–193, § 6(a)(1), (b)(1), (c)(1), Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2880, 2881; Pub. L. 109–164, title I, § 104(a), title II, § 205, Jan. 10, 2006, 119 Stat. 3564, 3571; Pub. L. 110–457, title I, §§ 101, 102, title II, § 231, title III, § 304(a), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5045, 5072, 5087; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title XVII, § 1707, Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 2098; Pub. L. 113–4, title XII, §§ 1201, 1203(a), 1231, Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 136, 138, 144;

Pub. L. 114–22, title VI, § 602, May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 259; Pub. L. 115–392, §§ 16, 18(a), Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5257, 5258; Pub. L. 115–425, title I, § 121(a), title II, § 201, Jan. 8, 2019, 132 Stat. 5478, 5482; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title IX, § 902(85), div. C, title XXXV, § 3562, div. F, title LXXI, § 7154(b), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1553, 2009, 2260; Pub. L. 117–347, title IV, § 404, Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6208.)