Bill > HR4732

This bill aims to expand the legal definition of "severe forms of trafficking in persons" to explicitly include the trafficking of orphaned, abandoned, or minor children living in residential facilities like orphanages, children's homes, boarding schools, or group homes. The bill highlights that approximately 5.4 million children globally live in institutional care, many of whom are vulnerable to exploitation. Currently, U.S. law does not specifically recognize "orphanage trafficking" as a severe form of trafficking, which can hinder prosecution efforts. The proposed amendment to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act would make it illegal to recruit, harbor, transport, transfer, or receive minors under 18 through fraud, coercion, force, or by exploiting their vulnerability, with the intent of profiting from forced labor, involuntary servitude, slavery, child labor, or sex trafficking. The bill is based on findings from the U.S. Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Reports, which have documented instances where children are trafficked into residential care to attract donations, international volunteers, or through fraudulent adoption channels, often experiencing physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in the process.

Military Affairs and Security

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4732/all-info