Sponsors (23)
The bill expands Byrne JAG allowable uses to increase services and enforcement against human trafficking, improving support for survivors and prosecution capacity but risking diversion of criminal-justice funds and potential harms to consenting sex workers if demand‑reduction efforts conflate trafficking with voluntary sex work.
Survivors of human trafficking — especially immigrants and people with disabilities — will gain expanded prevention, victim services, and outreach because Byrne JAG funds can now be used to support anti‑trafficking programs and community-based service providers.
Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors will have additional federal grant options to target trafficking and reduce demand, enabling expanded investigations, prosecutions, and related enforcement efforts.
Women and LGBTQ adults who engage in consensual sex work could face increased criminalization or loss of services if demand‑reduction programs conflate consensual sex work with trafficking.
Local law enforcement and governments may see Byrne JAG funds diverted away from other criminal-justice priorities as grants are redirected to anti‑trafficking programs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows Byrne JAG grant funds to be used for programs that combat human trafficking, including demand‑reduction activities.
Adds a new allowable use for Byrne JAG formula grant funds to support programs that combat human trafficking, including initiatives that reduce demand for trafficked persons. The change simply expands the list of program categories the Attorney General may fund under 34 U.S.C. § 10152(a)(1).
Official title: To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include an additional permissible use of amounts provided as grants under the Byrne JAG program, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by Morgan Luttrell · Last progress January 16, 2025