HOPE for Victims of Human Trafficking Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5080 To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a rebuttable presumption that certain Federal offenses were induced by coercion if a defendant was the victim of trafficking when such offense was committed, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Mr. SPANO (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DEUTCH, and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a rebut- table presumption that certain Federal offenses were in- duced by coercion if a defendant was the victim of traf- ficking when such offense was committed, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Obtaining Pre- 4 sumption of Exoneration for Victims of Human Traf- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5080.IH H5080 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5080 IH ficking Act’’ or the ‘‘HOPE for Victims of Human Traf- 1 ficking Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PRO- 3 TECTION ACT OF 2000. 4 Section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 5 of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘paragraph 7 (9)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (11)’’; and 8 (2) in paragraph (17), by striking ‘‘paragraph 9 (9) or (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (11) or 10 (12)’’. 11 SEC. 3. HUMAN TRAFFICKING DEFENSE. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘§ 28. Human trafficking defense 16 ‘‘(a) PRESUMPTION.—Any defendant who establishes 17 by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant was 18 a victim of trafficking at the time at which the defendant 19 committed an offense under subsection (b) shall create a 20 rebuttable presumption that the offense was induced by 21 coercion. 22 ‘‘(b) OFFENSES.—An offense described in this sub- 23 section is— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:07 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5080.IH H5080 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5080 IH ‘‘(1) an offense under section 1384 (relating to 1 prostitution near military and naval establishments); 2 ‘‘(2) an offense under section 1581, 1582, 3 1583, 1584, 1585, 1586, 1587, 1588, 1590, 4 1591(a), 1591(b), 1592, 1593A, 1594(a), or 5 1594(b); 6 ‘‘(3) an offense under section 2421(a), 7 2421a(a), 2421a(b), 2422, 2424(a), or 2425; 8 ‘‘(4) an offense under section 401, 404, or 406 9 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841, 10 844, or 846); or 11 ‘‘(5) any offense that is not a crime of violence 12 (as such term is defined in subsection (a) of section 13 16). 14 ‘‘(c) SEALING.—In any proceeding in which a defense 15 under this section is raised, any record or part of the pro- 16 ceeding related to such defense shall, on motion, be placed 17 under seal until such time as a conviction is entered for 18 the offense. 19 ‘‘(d) POST-CONVICTION RELIEF.—An individual’s 20 failure to assert or failed assertion of a defense under this 21 section may not preclude the individual from asserting as 22 a mitigating factor in a proceeding for any post-conviction 23 relief, that at the time of the commission of the acts con- 24 stituting the offense, the defendant was a victim of traf- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5080.IH H5080 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5080 IH ficking and committed the acts under duress, force, or co- 1 ercion. 2 ‘‘(e) AID TO VICTIMS.—An individual’s failure to as- 3 sert or failed assertion of a defense under this section may 4 not be used for the purpose of disqualifying the individual 5 from participating in any federally funded program that 6 aids victims of human trafficking. 7 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘coer- 8 cion’ and ‘victim of trafficking’ have the meanings given 9 such terms in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Pro- 10 tection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 12 for chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 13 by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘28. Human trafficking defense.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5080.IH H5080 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS