The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act of 2025 (H. R. 1144), sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, was named in honor of Frederick Douglass, a famed abolitionist and outspoken critic of slavery. The bill reauthorizes Smith’s landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 (P. L. 106-386), which has led to the convictions of more than 2,225 human traffickers of the serious crime of force, fraud, or coercion of victims, who are mostly women and children.
During the markup of H. R. 1144, Smith, a human rights leader in Congress, said, “Today, we are considering H.R. 1144—reauthorization of the TVPA, named in honor of Frederick Douglass—a man born into slavery who became one of America’s greatest abolitionists. This bill to end human trafficking—i.e., modern-day slavery—was developed in close collaboration with Frederick Douglass’ great-great-great grandson, Kenneth B. Morris Jr., and shaped by insights and trauma-informed input from survivors of trafficking.”
When enacted, the bill—which passed the House with broad bipartisan support in both of the last two Congresses, but was blocked in the Senate—will:
- Reauthorize and strengthen anti-human trafficking programs across numerous federal agencies, including the State Department, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Health and Human Services;
- Continue funding the Angel Watch Center, a program mandated by Smith’s International Megan’s Law (P. L. 114-119) that helps to prevent convicted child predators and sex offenders from exploiting and assaulting children abroad; and
- Promote anti-trafficking strategies and situational awareness training for instructors and students within elementary and secondary schools.
“This legislation reflects the continued leadership of the United States in the global fight against human trafficking—and our unwavering commitment to stand with the vulnerable, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to never turn a blind eye to injustice,” Smith stated.
Smith also highlighted the provisions to extend his International Megan’s Law, aimed at preventing convicted pedophiles from traveling abroad for the purposes of sex trafficking. Smith’s legislation, first enacted in 2016, was named in honor of Megan Kanaka, a seven-year-old girl from Smith’s then-congressional district, who was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by her neighbor, an undisclosed sex offender.
Similarly to U. S. federal and state Megan’s Laws that require notifications when a convicted pedophile moves into a neighborhood, Smith’s International Megan’s Law requires notifications to destination countries when a convicted pedophile seeks to travel abroad. The law also compels all convicted child sex offenders in the United States to display a special insignia on their passports, denoting them as criminals and predators.
To date, Smith’s law has resulted in nearly 30,000 notifications sent to destination countries, giving those countries the option to reject the travel or notify their own local law enforcement.
Smith reminded his colleagues of Congress’ initial skepticism and reluctance to address the issue of human trafficking when he first introduced the TVPA in the late 1990s, and he called on them to continue the United States’ aggressive fight against traffickers by preventing human trafficking before it starts, protecting victims, and prosecuting perpetrators.
“The threat and absolute horror of human trafficking has not diminished—it has grown more complex, more global, and more urgent than ever. The last reauthorization of this legislation—the 2020 version of the Frederick Douglass TVPRA—was signed into law by President Trump, marking the 20th anniversary of the original Act. I hope he will sign this one as well—on the 25th year anniversary.”
