Sponsors (4)
The bill expands multimodal detection, survivor‑centered support, and sustained funding for anti‑trafficking training and public awareness—strengthening national response capacity—while increasing federal spending, imposing administrative burdens, and creating privacy and misidentification risks that must be mitigated.
State and local transportation agencies, operators, and frontline transportation workers gain standardized, research-based tools (shared databases, mode-specific checklists) and multimodal training to better detect, report, and respond to human trafficking, improving safety and national security.
Victims and survivors — especially immigrants, non‑English speakers, and people with disabilities — get clearer access to survivor‑informed, trauma‑informed, and multilingual support materials and mode‑specific policies that reduce retraumatization and improve access to services.
Nonprofits, transit operators, and communities receive dedicated federal funding (authorized campaign funds and grant authorizations through FY2027–2031) to sustain awareness campaigns, training, and prevention programs.
Taxpayers and federal/state budgets will bear increased costs (authorized campaign and grant spending and new research/implementation expenses), which could require higher appropriations or divert funds from other programs.
State DOTs, transit agencies, small businesses, and transportation operators will face additional administrative, reporting, and compliance costs to align with templates, policies, and training requirements.
Centralized tip/databases and some targeted outreach raise privacy and data‑security risks for reporters, victims, and the public, and targeted digital campaign distributions could create additional civil‑liberties concerns if safeguards are inadequate.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced November 5, 2025 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress November 5, 2025
Creates a coordinated Department of Transportation push to prevent human trafficking in the transportation sector by funding research, building centralized information resources and model policies, expanding multimodal training and public-awareness campaigns, and establishing a grants program for transportation stakeholders and anti‑trafficking nonprofits. It requires DOT to consult existing initiatives, produce reports to Congress, develop survivor- and trauma-informed materials and tools, and coordinate with Homeland Security efforts. The bill authorizes $10 million per year (FY2027–2031) for outreach, research, and training activities and a separate $10 million per year (FY2027–2031) for a grant program to support awareness, prevention, and implementation of best practices.