[Senate Report 117-236]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 600
117th Congress } { Report
2d Session } SENATE { 117-236
_______________________________________________________________________
IMPACTT HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 4611
TO IMPROVE SERVICES FOR TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
BY ESTABLISHING, IN HOMELAND SECURITY
INVESTIGATIONS, THE INVESTIGATORS MAINTAIN
PURPOSEFUL AWARENESS TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING
TRAUMA PROGRAM AND THE VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
December 7, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
39-010 WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Sarah C. Pierce, Senior Counsel
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Jeremy H. Hayes, Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 600
117th Congress } { Report
2d Session } SENATE { 117-236
======================================================================
IMPACTT HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT
_______
December 7, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 4611]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4611), to improve
services for trafficking victims by establishing, in Homeland
Security Investigations, the Investigators Maintain Purposeful
Awareness to Combat Trafficking Trauma Program and the Victim
Assistance Program, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon with an amendment, in the nature of a
substitute, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................4
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............4
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................5
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............8
I. Purpose and Summary
S. 4611, the IMPACTT Human Trafficking Act, will enhance
the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) efforts to combat human trafficking by
codifying and expanding the HSI Victim Assistance Program to
provide services for trafficking victims. The bill would also
establish a program to safeguard HSI employees and partners who
are exposed to repeated stress and associated trauma in working
with victims of human trafficking.
II. Background and the Need for Legislation
Human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry
in the world, falling shortly behind the drug trade.\1\ This
crime is a violation of human rights and involves either
commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. Unlike drugs, a
person can be sold over and over again for continual profit.
According to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, there
were 16,658 victims of human trafficking identified through the
hotline in 2020 alone.\2\ Human trafficking victims can be of
any gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and
socio-economic class. Likewise, this is also true of human
traffickers, who may be strangers but are often acquaintances
or family members known to the victim. This increasingly
prevalent crime is estimated to yield global profits of $150
billion every year.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\United States Agency for International Development, Countering
Trafficking in Persons (https://www.usaid.gov/trafficking) (accessed
11/30/2022).
\2\Polaris Project, Human Trafficking Trends in 2020, An analysis
of data from the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline (https://
polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Human-Trafficking-Trends-
in-2020-by-Polaris.pdf) (accessed Oct. 14, 2022).
\3\U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Countering Human
Trafficking: Year in Review (October 2020 to September 2021, (https://
www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/CCHT%20Annual%20Report.pdf)
(accessed Oct. 14, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since the creation of DHS in 2003, HSI has played a leading
role in identifying victims of human trafficking and child
exploitation, as well as bringing violators to justice. HSI
pursues a victim-centered approach to human trafficking,
seeking to minimize additional trauma, mitigate undue
penalization, and stabilize and support victims.\4\ This
approach encourages survivors to participate actively in
investigations, enabling law enforcement to better detect,
investigate, and prosecute perpetrators. It also requires
significant efforts from the agents and assistance specialists
involved, who work tirelessly to bring perpetrators to justice
in a way that ensures victims have sufficient support.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS Center for Countering
Human Trafficking (www.dhs.gov/dhs-center-countering-human-trafficking)
(accessed Aug. 18, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This bill codifies and enhances the Victim Assistance
Program, which provides HSI with victim assistance specialists
to serve victims identified through HSI investigations. This
bill will create additional Victim Assistance Specialist (VAS)
positions to ensure every office participating in a human
trafficking or child exploitation task force will have a
dedicated VAS. Currently, there are only enough VASs to serve
the largest field offices within HSI, leaving the majority of
offices to rely on agents who provide victim assistance as a
secondary responsibility. These agents are not professional
VASs and conduct this duty alongside their criminal
investigations work. The Victim Assistance Program and its
expansion is essential to carrying out HSI's victim-centered
approach. VASs provide victim support and referral to services
throughout the investigative and prosecutorial process. Through
this program, VASs also provide training and outreach to HSI
employees, law enforcement and victim service partners, private
sector stakeholders, and community organizations in an effort
to increase identification of victims and referrals for human
trafficking investigations. This bill would ensure that the
required training provided by VASs regarding victims' rights,
victim-related policies, roles of forensic interviewers and
VASs, is conducted through an approach that is victim-centered,
trauma informed, and linguistically appropriate.
The Victim Assistance Program provides forensic interview
support that is crucial for successful investigations and
ensures the least amount of retraumatization of victims. It
also provides training and technical assistance to agents and
other law enforcement partners to ensure victims have access to
the rights and services to which they are entitled. This bill
allows, through the Victim Assistance Program, funds to be
available for emergency expenditures for items related to basic
needs upon recovery of a victim, such as food, clothing,
hygiene products, transportation, and temporary shelter. These
emergency expenditures are often taken on by agents and VASs
who are first in contact with victims, often without
reimbursement. By making these funds immediately accessible,
victims receive these items in a more expeditious manner.
Trauma experienced by human trafficking victims can be
devastating and often involves extreme psychological and
physical abuse at the hands of traffickers. Vicarious and other
secondary trauma exposure occurs when those working with
victims, including law enforcement officers, witness the
initial recovery and observe first-hand the cruelty and
violence the victim has endured; listen to victims recount
vivid details of their victimization; are exposed to videos and
images of severe exploitation; and witness the long road to
recovery, which often includes regressive setbacks. This trauma
can significantly affect the physical and emotional well-being
of the law enforcement, forensic interviewers, service
providers and other professionals who are working with victims.
According to the Department of Justice's Office of Victims of
Crime, some of the common negative reactions of vicarious and
other associated trauma include: difficulty managing emotions;
physical problems or complaints, including decreased resistance
to illness; loss of a sense of meaning in life; relationship
problems; aggressive or violent outbursts and behavior;
destructive coping or addictive behaviors; and a combination of
symptoms that comprise a diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), among other reactions.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime, What is
Vicarious Trauma? (https://ovc.ojp.gov/program/vtt/what-is-vicarious-
trauma) (accessed Aug. 11, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This bill would codify a program initiated at HSI in 2022
to provide support to address such secondary trauma. The
Investigators Maintain Purposeful Awareness to Combat
Trafficking Trauma Program (IMPACTT program) was developed
after agents working in the field and at the HSI Center for
Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) identified a significant
need to address these issues. The IMPACTT Program provides
outreach and training to HSI employees and partners who have
been exposed to vicarious trauma in working with victims of
human trafficking. The bill requires the IMPACTT program to
provide self-awareness training to those working with victims
on recognizing the signs of burnout, stress, and vicarious
trauma. This training must provide tools and resources for
self-care and resilience. Additionally, training must be
provided to first line supervisors of relevant employees
specific to recognizing the aforementioned signs and how to
provide the appropriate response.
III. Legislative History
Senator Peters (D-MI), along with Senator Portman (R-OH),
introduced S. 4611 on July 26, 2022. The bill was referred to
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 4611 at a business meeting on
August 3, 2022. During the business meeting, Senators Peters
and Portman filed a substitute amendment to provide for the
short title of IMPACTT Human Trafficking Act. The bill, as
amended, was ordered reported favorably by voice vote en bloc,
with Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff,
Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley present.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section cites the short title as the ``IMPACTT Human
Trafficking Act.''
Section 2. Investigators Maintain Purposeful Awareness to Combat
Trafficking Trauma Program
This section establishes the IMPACTT Program within HSI.
The IMPACTT Program will provide outreach and training to HSI
employees and partners who have been exposed to vicarious
trauma in working with victims of human trafficking. This
section requires, through the IMPACTT program, that self-
awareness training be provided to the relevant employees and
partners on recognizing the signs of burnout, compassion
fatigue, critical incident stress, traumatic stress,
posttraumatic stress, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious
trauma. This training must include mechanisms of self-care,
resilience, and resources available through the employee
assistance program. Additionally, training must be provided to
first line supervisors of relevant employees specific to
recognizing the aforementioned signs and how to provide the
appropriate response.
This section requires training modules to be carried out by
licensed and accredited clinicians or other subject matter
experts who have been trained on the exposure of various forms
of trauma and other stressors experienced in working with
victims.
This section also charges the HSI Center for Countering
Human Trafficking with overseeing the IMPACTT program to ensure
that training is offered to all relevant employees, appropriate
program materials are distributed, and any needed travel and
equipment is provided.
This section also authorizes $800,000 to be appropriated
for each fiscal year for the Secretary to carry out the IMPACTT
program.
Section 3. Homeland Security Investigations Victim Assistance Program
This section defines ``Forensic Interview Specialist'' as
an interviewer who has specialized experience and training in
conducting trauma-informed forensic interviews with victims of
crime. It also defines ``Victim Assistance Specialist'' as a
victim assistance professional who has experience working with
victims of crime in a service capacity and has been trained on
the exposure of various forms of trauma and other stressors
experienced in working with victims.
This section establishes the HSI Victim Assistance Program
and provides HSI with VAS to serve victims identified through
HSI investigations in every Special Agent in Charge Office,
Regional Attach Office, and every office that participates in a
human trafficking or child exploitation task force. The Victim
Assistance Program is authorized to provide oversight,
guidance, training, travel, equipment, and coordination to
victim assistance personnel throughout the United States. VASs
will provide training regarding victims' rights, victim-related
policies, roles of forensic interviewers and VASs, through an
approach that is victim-centered, trauma informed, and
linguistically appropriate. Through this program, HSI VASs will
also provide training in an effort to increase identification
of victims and referrals for investigation.
This section allows funds to be available for emergency
expenditures for items related to basic needs upon recovery of
a victim; such as food, clothing, hygiene products,
transportation, and temporary shelter.
This section authorizes there to be appropriated
$25,000,000 for each fiscal year to carry out this program.
This section also includes a technical amendment that
amends Subtitle D of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of
2002 to replace ``Bureau of Border Security'' with ``U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.''
Section 4. Annual Report
This section requires that not later than one year after
the date of the enactment, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary to submit a report to Congress that identifies, with
respect to the reporting period, the number of trainings that
were provided through the IMPACTT Program and the number of
personnel who received such training and the number of
potential human trafficking victims who were assisted by the
Homeland Security Investigations Victim Assistance Program.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 9, 2022.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed table summarizing estimated budgetary
effects and mandates information for some of the legislation
that has been ordered reported by the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during the 117th
Congress.
If you wish further details, we will be pleased to provide
them. The CBO staff contact for each estimate is listed on the
enclosed table.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
SUMMARY ESTIMATES OF LEGISLATION ORDERED REPORTED
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In
order to provide the Congress with as much information as
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during
the 117th Congress. The legislation listed in this table
generally would have small effects, if any, on direct spending
or revenues, CBO estimates. Where possible, the table also
provides information about the legislation's estimated effects
on spending subject to appropriation and on intergovernmental
and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act.
ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increases On-
Spending Subject Pay-As-You-Go Budget
Bill Title Status Last Action Budget Function Direct Spending, Revenues, 2023- to Appropriation, Procedures Deficits Mandates Contact
Number 2023-2032 2032 2023-2027 Apply? Beginning in
2033?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4611 IMPACTT Human Ordered 08/03/22 750 0 0 Not estimated No No No Jeremy
Trafficking reported Crimm
Act
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4611 would authorize the appropriation of $800,000 annually to provide outreach and training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staff who have been exposed to trauma from working
with victims of human trafficking. The bill also would authorize the appropriation of $25 million annually for a victim assistance program within ICE. CBO estimates that enacting S. 4611
would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO has not estimated the discretionary costs of implementing the bill because based on information from the agency, we are not sure how much of
the authorized amounts would be spent. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002
* * * * * * *
TITLE IV--BORDER, MARITIME, AND TRANSPORTATION SECURITY
* * * * * * *
Subtitle D--U.S. Immigration and Customs
* * * * * * *
SEC. 442. [ESTABLISHMENT OF BUREAU OF BORDER SECURITY] U.S. IMMIGRATION
AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Establishment [of Bureau].--
(1) In general.--There shall be in the Department of
Homeland Security a [bureau] agency to be known as the
[``Bureau of Border Security''] ``U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement''.
(2) Assistant secretary.--The head of the [Bureau of
Border Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement shall be the Assistant Secretary of [the
Bureau of Border Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, who--
(A) shall report directly to the Under
Secretary for Border and Transportation
Security; and
(B) shall have a minimum of 5 years
professional experience in law enforcement, and
a minimum of 5 years of management experience.
(3) Functions.--The Assistant Secretary of the
[Bureau of Border Security] U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement--
(A) shall establish the policies for
performing such functions as are--
(i) transferred to the Under
Secretary for Border and Transportation
Security by section 441 and delegated
to the Assistant Secretary by the Under
Secretary for Border and Transportation
Security; or
(ii) otherwise vested in the
Assistant Secretary by law;
(B) shall oversee the administration of such
policies; and
(C) shall advise the Under Secretary for
Border and Transportation Security with respect
to any policy or operation of the [Bureau of
Border Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement that may [affect the Bureau of]
affecting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services established under subtitle E,
including potentially conflicting policies or
operations.
(4) Program to collect information relating to
foreign students.--The Assistant Secretary of the
[Bureau of Border Security] U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement shall be responsible for
administering the program to collect information
relating to nonimmigrant foreign students and other
exchange program participants described in section 641
of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1372), including
the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System
established under that section, and shall use such
information to carry out the enforcement functions of
[the Bureau] the agency.
(5) Managerial rotation program.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after
the date on which the transfer of functions
specified under section 441 takes effect, the
Assistant Secretary of the [Bureau of Border
Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement shall design and implement a
managerial rotation program under which
employees of such [bureau] agency holding
positions involving supervisory or managerial
responsibility and classified, in accordance
with chapter 51 of title 5, United States Code,
as a GS-14 or above, shall--
(i) gain some experience in all the
major functions performed by such
[bureau] agency; and
(ii) work in at least one local
office of such [bureau] agency.
(B) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the
date on which the transfer of functions
specified under section 441 takes effect, the
Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress
on the implementation of such program.
(b) Chief of Policy and Strategy.--
(1) In general.--There shall be a position of Chief
of Policy and Strategy for the [Bureau of Border
Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
(2) Functions.--In consultation with [Bureau of
Border Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement personnel in local offices, the Chief of
Policy and Strategy shall be responsible for--
(A) making policy recommendations and
performing policy research and analysis on
immigration enforcement issues; and
(B) coordinating immigration policy issues
with the Chief of Policy and Strategy for [the
Bureau of] U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (established under subtitle E), as
appropriate.
(c) Legal Advisor.--There shall be a principal legal
advisor to the Assistant Secretary of [the Bureau of Border
Security] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The legal
advisor shall provide specialized legal advice to the Assistant
Secretary of [the Bureau of Border Security] U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement and shall represent the [bureau] agency
in all exclusion, deportation, and removal proceedings before
the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
SEC. 443. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND QUALITY REVIEW.
The Secretary shall be responsible for--
(1) * * *
(2) inspecting the operations of U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement and providing assessments of the
quality of the operations of [such bureau] such agency
as a whole and each of its components; and
* * * * * * *
SEC. 447. HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Forensic interview specialist.--The term
`forensic interview specialist' is an interview
professional who has specialized experience and
training in conducting trauma-informed forensic
interviews with victims of crime.
(2) Victim assistance specialist.--The term `victim
assistance specialist' is a victim assistance
professional who--
(A) has experience working with victims of
crime in a service capacity; and
(B) has been trained on the exposure of various forms
of trauma and other stressors experienced in working
with victims.
(b) In General.--There is established, in Homeland Security
Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the
Victim Assistance Program.
(c) Functions.--The Victim Assistance Program shall--
(1) provide oversight, guidance, training, travel,
equipment, and coordination to victim assistance
personnel throughout the United States;
(2) recruit not fewer than--
(A) 1 forensic interview specialist and 1
victim assistance specialist for each Homeland
Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge
office;
``(B) 1 victim assistance specialist for--
``(i) every Homeland Security
Investigations office participating in
a human trafficking task force;
``(ii) every Homeland Security
Investigations regional attache1
office; and
``(iii) every Homeland Security
Investigations office participating in
a child sexual exploitation task force;
(3) provide training regarding victims'' rights,
victim-related policies, roles of forensic interviewers
and victim assistance specialists, and an approach that
is--
``(A) victim-centered;
``(B) trauma-informed; and
``(C) linguistically appropriate; and
(4) provide sufficient funding for emergency
expenditures to purchase items needed to assist
identified victims, including food, clothing, hygiene
products, transportation, and temporary shelter that is
not otherwise provided by a nongovernmental
organization.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each fiscal year to carry
out this section.
* * * * * * *
[all]