Summary

Creates a federal process that lets people who committed crimes or were arrested because they were victims of human trafficking seek vacatur of convictions, expungement of arrests, and sentence reductions. It also creates a trafficking-duress defense for federal prosecutions, requires reporting and a GAO impact study, and stops some Department of Justice grant conditions from blocking use of funds for post-conviction legal help. Filings under the new process are sealed, fee-exempt, and apply to past and future convictions and arrests.

• Creates a federal process allowing trafficking survivors to move to vacate convictions and expunge arrests that were directly caused by trafficking.
• Authorizes courts to reduce sentences for qualifying incarcerated persons when their offense was shown to result from trafficking.
• Establishes a trafficking-duress defense in federal prosecutions and protects use of that defense in later mitigation or post-conviction proceedings.
• Filing motions under the new process is fee-exempt, sealed, and requires courts to consider anti-trafficking provider affidavits as valid evidence when appropriate.
• Orders granting relief require immediate vacatur/expungement of official records but do not automatically remove fines or restitution.
• Requires U.S. attorneys and the Attorney General to report on motions and training, and directs GAO to study the law's impact within three years.
• Prevents certain DOJ grant conditions from forbidding grantees from using legal-service funds for post-conviction representation.
• Affirms that the Act must be applied consistent with existing crime victims' rights protections.
• Applies retroactively to past convictions and arrests as well as future cases.