The Lack of Victim Protection in the Enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act

Abstract

Over the past twenty-two years, United States federal courts have seen many cases regarding forced labor and the importation of goods produced by victims of forced labor trafficking. To resolve these cases, the court must interpret § 307 of the Tariff Act to determine whether victims can recover against their traffickers. Recently, an issue in the interpretation of forced labor has arisen in courts: whether an attempt at importing goods is sufficient to establish a cause of action as a violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act’s prohibition on forced labor imports. Courts that interpret forced labor narrowly to exclude attempts at forced labor imports conflict with the congressional intent to protect victims and prosecute traffickers by perpetuating the production of goods made by forced labor, and prolonging harm to victims of labor trafficking, as well as working against the intent of the executive branch.