Legislation

Texas Legislation

June 2009 Update from Children at Risk

Establishes a victim assistance program designed to assist victims of human trafficking. The program must maintain a searchable database of assistance programs that offer mental health services, other health services, basic needs, and case management. Additionally, HB 4009 requires that the victim assistance program include a training program for judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel. Furthermore, HB 4009 establishes a grant program for public and non-profit organizations that provide assistance to victims of human trafficking.

Why: To aid in the identification of victims and provide victims with appropriate services.

HB 533

Creates civil liability for human traffickers by providing victims with an avenue to sue their traffickers.

Why: To ensure the rights and restitution of victims.

HB 3094

Creates liability for operating an illegitimate "massage parlor" in counties with a population of 3.3 million or more (it will only affect Harris County).

Why: Aid in the elimination of illegitimate "massage parlors" which may be ran by traffickers.

SB 707

Requires sexually oriented businesses to maintain proper identification records for up to two years for their employees or independent contractors.

Why: So that the Texas Workforce Commission, the Attorney General, or local law enforcement are able to inspect the records maintained if there is good reason to believe that a child does work or did work at the sexually oriented business within the previous two years.

HB 960

Gives a municipality or county the right to access National Crime Information Center criminal history record information for the purposes of obtaining information regarding persons applying for a license to operate a sexually oriented business in the municipality or county.

Why: License applications for sexually oriented businesses require a criminal background check; however, municipalities or counties were not authorized to access the nationwide criminal history record.

February 2009 Update

HB 3370
Revises definition of human trafficking.

Why:Current State statute did not include "coercive tactics" used by traffickers such as acts obtained by "threats" and adds dimensions of trafficking beyond "transportation."

HB 3377
Mandatory posting of rescue hotline/emergency numbers in hotels.

Why: The I-10 corridor is a hotspot for transportation of trafficking victims and Houston is well-known as a set up for temporary "training brothels."

Federal Legislation

Dec 2008 Update from Polaris Project :
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act Passed Congress

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which first became law in 2000, represents the first major comprehensive U.S. legislative effort to address modern-day slavery. Congress recently passed new legislation with important provisions and amendments that strengthen the U.S. government's efforts to combat human trafficking in the United States and abroad.

The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008 significantly enhances the tools available to prosecute traffickers and increases protection and services for U.S. citizen and foreign national victims in the U.S. Other highlights of the bill include provisions that:

strengthen the State Department's rating system of other countries' anti-trafficking efforts, which is used as a diplomatic tool to urge those governments to improve their anti-trafficking policy
strengthen the role of the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Office in both domestic and foreign policy
strengthen U.S. policy toward countries that use children in armed groups
improve employment-based visa processing to prevent trafficking of migrant workers to the United States
create new protections for unaccompanied foreign national children arriving in the United States
improve the T-visa (special visa for trafficking victims in the United States) to protect victims and their family members
authorize new studies, reports, and data collection mechanisms to improve our understanding of human trafficking globally and in the U.S.