The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), as amended and codified at Title 18 U.S. Code sections 1581, et seq., criminalizes sex and labor trafficking. United States (U.S.) law confers extraterritorial jurisdiction for these human trafficking offenses, as long as the defendant (whether an individual or entity) is a U.S. national or a U.S. lawful permanent resident, or is present in the United States, regardless of the defendant’s nationality. The penalties prescribed under these provisions, which can include up to life imprisonment, are sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with the penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. U.S. law prohibits conspiracy and the attempt to violate these provisions, obstruction of the statutes’ enforcement, and knowingly benefiting from participation in a venture that has engaged in such acts. Additionally, a criminal statute prohibits the use of fraud to recruit, solicit, or hire workers abroad to work in the United States. The statute also prohibits the use of fraud to recruit workers to work on a U.S. government contract performed outside the United States, on U.S. property, or on military installations outside the United States.

The U.S. Congress passed two bills that the President signed into law during the reporting period. The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act establishes a federal process for trafficking survivors to request courts to vacate their convictions, expunge arrest records, and reduce sentences for offenses that do not fall within the statute’s definition of “violent crime” as well as certain violent crimes, excluding those with child victims, committed as a direct result of trafficking. The Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act, commonly referred to as the TAKE IT DOWN Act, criminalizes the publication (or threatened publication) of certain non-consensual intimate imagery and requires social media companies to remove such material within 48 hours of notice from a victim.

The federal government reports its law enforcement data by fiscal year. This data may include joint federal and state or local actions but does not include separate state or local law enforcement data. In fiscal year (FY) 2025, the government — through the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of State (State), Department of War (DoW), and Department of Labor (DOL) — reported investigating 3,171 cases potentially involving human trafficking, compared with 2,692 cases in FY 2024. These numbers represent investigations in which a suspicion of potential human trafficking was noted at the time of initiation and do not reflect whether trafficking indicators were substantiated, trafficking victims were identified, or any state or federal charges or convictions resulted. Prosecution-related information is reported below. The numbers may also include cases reported by more than one agency, as the federal government does not have a unified system to prevent duplicate counting across interagency investigations. The government pursued enforcement actions against individuals suspected of exploiting unaccompanied foreign national children.

The government maintained a team of specialized human trafficking prosecutors. In FY 2025, the government initiated 163 federal human trafficking prosecutions, an increase from 146 in FY 2024. DOJ charged 302 defendants in FY 2025, an increase from 223 in FY 2024. Of the FY 2025 prosecutions, 149 involved predominantly sex trafficking and 14 involved predominantly labor trafficking, compared with 136 and 10 in FY 2024, respectively. DOJ secured convictions against 293 traffickers in FY 2025, an increase from 210 in FY 2024. Of these, 263 involved predominantly sex trafficking and 30 involved predominantly labor trafficking, compared with 181 and 29 in FY 2024, respectively. The courts sentenced the majority of convicted traffickers to at least one year of imprisonment. The government continued providing training and technical assistance to federal prosecutors on seeking mandatory restitution in all such cases. The government established a Backpage remission program through which sex trafficking victims who had been exploited through now-shuttered online classified advertising websites seized by federal law enforcement can apply to receive compensation.

The government investigated, prosecuted, and convicted federal, state, and local government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes.

All U.S. states and territories have anti-trafficking criminal statutes, and most human trafficking prosecutions in the United States are brought under state or local laws. The federal government supports investigations and prosecutions at the federal, state, and local levels. There was no formal mechanism to systematically track prosecutions at the state, local, and tribal levels. However, the federal government continued to collect data on human trafficking investigations through a nationwide program that collects data on crimes reported by law enforcement agencies from jurisdictions in all 50 states.

The government cooperated with other governments on anti-trafficking law enforcement operations and capacity-building trainings. These efforts included strengthening partnerships in the Caribbean through specialized units to combat human trafficking and other transnational crimes. The government continued to advance bilateral human trafficking investigations and prosecutions of transnational criminal organizations operating across the U.S.-Mexico border, including securing five convictions, sentences of 210 months and 188 months of imprisonment, and more than $3 million in restitution orders against the leaders and members of an extensive Mexican sex trafficking enterprise. The government also cooperated with Mexican and Canadian authorities on human trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and trainings, including joint operations targeting Tren de Aragua members engaged in human trafficking and child sexual abuse material cases, resulting in arrests and convictions.

The government conducted anti-trafficking training for law enforcement, judges, military personnel, labor officers, and private and federal employees working in the transportation sector, among others.

The government continued to identify trafficking victims and fund trafficking-specific services. Certain federal agencies used formal procedures to identify victims and refer them to service providers. Federally funded trafficking-specific services, primarily through DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), served foreign national and domestic trafficking victims and included case management, medical care, behavioral health care, housing and shelter, translation and interpretation services, legal services, employment training and job placement services, transportation assistance, and crisis support.

In FY 2025, DOJ anti-trafficking grantees reported serving 17,446 individuals, compared with 17,561 individuals in FY 2024. Of those served, 58 percent were confirmed or potential sex trafficking victims, 20 percent were confirmed or potential labor trafficking victims, eight percent were confirmed or potential victims of both sex and labor trafficking, and 14 percent were confirmed or potential victims of unspecified forms of trafficking. In FY 2025, HHS anti-trafficking grantees reported serving 3,116 victims, compared with 2,282 victims served in FY 2024. Of those served, 31 percent were sex trafficking victims, 42 percent were labor trafficking victims, 21 percent were victims of both sex and labor trafficking, and six percent were victims of unspecified forms of trafficking. DOJ and HHS collect different data, and record-keeping systems did not allow for cross-referencing to determine which victims were served by grantees of both agencies.

The government had a referral mechanism through which victims could access anti-trafficking services. Participation in law enforcement proceedings was not required for human trafficking victims to access services. The government allocated $18.9 million for victim services to NGOs in FY 2025, a decrease from $82.3 million in FY 2024. Male victims and some labor trafficking victims and children aging out of services had less access to specialized services compared to women.

The government strengthened enforcement of immigration laws at the border, which reduced the number of people illegally entering the United States, many of whom face sex trafficking or forced labor to repay criminal networks. It continued to provide foreign trafficking victims legal options for remaining in the United States to assist law enforcement through programs codified in federal statutes.
The government provided victim-witness assistance to support victim participation in criminal justice proceedings but assisted fewer victim-witnesses in FY 2025 compared to FY 2024. In FY 2025, DHS’s forensic interview specialists conducted 207 human trafficking-specific forensic interviews, 94 for labor trafficking and 113 for sex trafficking; DHS reported conducting 2,033 forensic interviews in FY 2024 but did not report how many were related to human trafficking specifically. DHS victim assistance specialists assisted 727 victims of human trafficking, a decrease from 818 in FY 2024. DOJ’s victim specialists and forensic interviewers assisted 1,614 victims in FY 2025, a decrease from 1,757 in FY 2024. State assisted 120 victims in FY 2025, a decrease from 323 victims in FY 2024.

Because national prevalence data is not available, the percentage of victims who are inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked cannot be determined.

The government maintained an interagency task force and continued to support and meet with a Presidentially appointed survivor advisory council. The government’s NAP lapsed in 2024. The government conducted public awareness activities in partnership with NGOs, private sector industries, and international organizations, targeting populations vulnerable to and regions with heightened risk of human trafficking, such as tribal communities, schools, and state child-welfare and social service organizations. The government continued funding a national anti-trafficking hotline to assist potential trafficking victims. In FY 2025, the hotline identified 13,623 potential human trafficking situations, reported 3,643 situations to law enforcement, and issued 12,272 unique service referrals, compared with 12,130 potential human trafficking situations identified, 2,642 situations reported to law enforcement, and 10,763 unique service referrals issued in FY 2024. In FY 2025, HHS awarded $2.6 million for youth prevention education efforts, compared to $3.4 million in FY 2024. These awards continued to fund local educational agencies to implement skills-based human trafficking prevention education and training in schools and resulted in the training of 10,011 staff and 15,881 students and the identification of 297 students as potential victims in FY 2025.

The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. DOJ prosecuted individuals for giving money, food, shelter, and other items of value to children in exchange for sexual acts. DOJ, in partnership with state, local, and tribal law enforcement, conducted operations to combat online sexual exploitation and online child sex trafficking. DOJ held trainings for federal prosecutors to enhance nationwide capacity to combat sex trafficking and online sexual exploitation. In FY 2025, DoW initiated 453 investigations into acts involving prostitution, solicitation of a commercial sex act, engagement in child pornography, and wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images, a significant increase from 112 investigations into such acts in FY 2024.

Some temporary foreign worker programs continued to operate without regulation, primarily fraudulent recruitment operations outside the United States, and some workers were charged prohibited fees. However, DOL, DHS, and State screen and approve employers and workers for these temporary foreign worker programs to ensure compliance with program requirements, including worker protections. The United States bars employers participating in these programs and/or their agents from seeking or receiving payments from workers for any activities related to obtaining labor certification or employment. In addition, the government can use the criminal statute that prohibits the use of fraud to recruit, solicit, or hire workers abroad to come to the United States to work to hold employers and their agents criminally responsible for abusive employment practices commonly associated with forced labor.

DOL continued to investigate complaints and conduct targeted civil labor investigations of federal labor standards involving workers in industries and sectors known to be vulnerable to labor trafficking, including complaints or investigations related to temporary foreign worker programs. DOL conducted 47,190 worksite inspections for compliance with federal labor standards, including inspections involving workers in industries and sectors known to be vulnerable to labor trafficking such as janitorial services and retail, compared to 51,996 in FY 2024 and 54,443 in FY 2023.

The government took measures to prevent the use of forced labor or forced child labor, including in supply chains. DHS continued to enforce Title 19 U.S. Code section 1307, which prohibits the importation of goods mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, with forced labor. In accordance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, an interagency task force continued implementing its strategy to prevent goods made with forced labor, primarily from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, from entering U.S. markets.

In FY 2025, DHS issued four withhold release orders (WRO) in which information reasonably, but not conclusively, indicated that merchandise was made with forced labor and one finding where information established probable cause that merchandise was made with forced labor, compared to one WRO and no findings in FY 2024. DHS stopped 7,325 shipments of goods suspected to have been made wholly or in part with forced labor, compared to 4,850 shipments in FY 2024. DHS conducted outreach and engagement with importers to prevent goods made with forced labor from entering the United States. The United States signed nine agreements on reciprocal trade that include obligations for trading partners related to forced labor. Differences in state and federal child labor laws caused some challenges in coordinating potential child labor cases. In FY 2025, DOL concluded 976 civil investigations into child labor violations involving 5,272 children in the United States, compared to 736 investigations involving 4,030 children in FY 2024.

Federal law enforcement agencies did not receive any allegations of forced labor or recruitment fees charged to third-country nationals working on certain U.S. government contracts abroad. Therefore, DOJ did not initiate any federal criminal prosecutions of employers or labor contractors for such violations in FY 2025. In FY 2025, DoW reported investigating 18 cases related to forced labor in federal contracts, compared to 11 cases in FY 2024. Where appropriate, DoW refers these cases for criminal investigation or itself pursues criminal investigations. DoW did not debar any individuals from conducting business with the federal government for violating contracting prohibitions related to human trafficking. During FY 2025, DHS debarred three entities and 12 individuals from conducting business with the federal government for engaging in human trafficking, compared to 10 entities in FY 2024. State and the Department of Transportation funded the publication of due diligence tools and reports for the mining, transportation, and seafood sectors, including for federal contractors in those sectors, to prevent forced labor in supply chains.

This section describes the nature and scope of trafficking based on recent government and civil society reporting. In 2025, human trafficking cases in the United States included domestic and foreign national victims. Traffickers were known to have targeted vulnerable children and adults who experience violence (such as intimate partner or domestic violence), poverty, substance dependency, or involvement with the child welfare system (including foster care, congregate care, and institutional placements) or who interact with government-run programs (such as the criminal justice system and runaway and homeless youth services). Traffickers were known to have compelled victims to commit criminal offenses (including drug smuggling and distribution and commercial sex), and to have compelled victims to work in both legal and illicit industries and sectors (including hospitality, traveling sales crews, agriculture, janitorial and cleaning services, construction, transportation, landscaping, restaurants and grocery retailers, factories and manufacturing, direct care services, salon services, massage parlors, retail, peddling, religious institutions, and domestic work). Some traffickers misuse social media and emerging technology to fraudulently recruit and abuse victims, facilitating forced labor and fueling online child sex trafficking. Many trafficking cases in the United States are linked to foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua and affiliated members who have been charged with sex trafficking. Chinese money laundering networks involving U.S.-based Chinese nationals are linked to human trafficking-related financial activity, including funds transfers to businesses frequently used by traffickers. Such businesses include massage businesses, spas, escort services, restaurants, and bars.