Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2025

The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act would create a federal legal process for human trafficking survivors to vacate criminal convictions or expunge arrest records for certain offenses if they can demonstrate the crimes were directly caused by their trafficking victimization. The bill would apply to non-violent federal offenses and certain violent crimes, with exceptions for crimes against children. Survivors would not be required to pay any filing fees, and all court documents would be sealed to protect their privacy.

The legislation would also allow trafficking victims to use their victim status as a mitigating factor when courts determine sentences for violent crimes, and would establish a legal defense of duress for trafficking victims prosecuted for covered federal offenses. Additionally, the bill would permit federal grant funding for legal services to be used for post-conviction relief representation. The bill requires U.S. attorneys and the Government Accountability Office to report on implementation and track how many survivors use these provisions, with the goal of evaluating the law's effectiveness and identifying ways to improve access to relief for trafficking survivors with federal criminal records.