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119-hr-4732119th Congress

Orphanage Trafficking Prevention and Protection Act

Sponsored By: Representative Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]

Introduced

Summary

Expands the legal definition of a “severe form of trafficking” to explicitly cover the recruitment, transfer, or exploitation of minors in orphanages and other residential care settings. This bill would amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to treat the recruitment, harboring, transportation, transfer, or receipt of children under 18 in public or private residential facilities by fraud, coercion, force, or abuse of vulnerability as trafficking for profit or exploitation.

Show full summary
  • Children and families: Children living in institutions like orphanages, boarding schools, or group homes would be explicitly recognized as potential trafficking victims when exploited in those settings. The bill cites about 5.4 million children in institutional care globally.
  • Law enforcement and prosecutors: Federal investigators and prosecutors would be able to apply the TVPA’s tools to cases tied to residential care settings. Covered conduct includes forced labor, involuntary servitude, debt bondage, child labor, and sex trafficking.
  • U.S. foreign policy and accountability: The change could strengthen U.S. reporting and accountability on orphanage-related exploitation and tie enforcement to existing anti-trafficking frameworks. The bill references State Department Trafficking in Persons reports and the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption for context.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Stronger trafficking rules for kids in care

This bill would add orphanage and residential-care trafficking to the list of severe human trafficking. It would cover people under 18 who are orphaned, abandoned, or living in public or private residential facilities. It would apply when someone recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, or receives a child using fraud, force, coercion, or abuse of vulnerability. The goal must be exploitation for profit, including forced labor, involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, slavery, child labor, or sex trafficking. If enacted, law enforcement could bring federal trafficking cases in these settings, and victims would have clearer protections.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]

NJ • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Mfume, Kweisi [D-MD-7]

    MD • D

    Sponsored 7/23/2025

  • Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27]

    FL • R

    Sponsored 7/23/2025

  • Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]

    VA • D

    Sponsored 10/3/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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