S. 2991 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two 

An Act 

To establish a Department of Homeland Security Center for Countering Human 

Trafficking, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Human Trafficking 

Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

It is the sense of Congress that— 

(1) the victim-centered approach must become universally 

understood, adopted, and practiced; 

(2) criminal justice efforts must increase the focus on, and 

adeptness at, investigating and prosecuting forced labor cases; 

(3) corporations must eradicate forced labor from their 

supply chains; 

(4) the Department of Homeland Security must lead by 

example— 

(A) by ensuring that its government supply chain of 

contracts and procurement are not tainted by forced labor; 

and 

(B) by leveraging all of its authorities against the 

importation of goods produced with forced labor; and 

(5) human trafficking training, awareness, identification, 

and screening efforts— 

(A) are a necessary first step for prevention, protection, 

and enforcement; and 

(B) should be evidence-based to be most effective. 

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER FOR COUNTERING HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

operate, within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 

Homeland Security Investigations, the Center for Countering 

Human Trafficking (referred to in this Act as ‘‘CCHT’’). 

(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of CCHT shall be to serve at 

the forefront of the Department of Homeland Security’s unified 

global efforts to counter human trafficking through law enforcement operations and victim protection, prevention, and awareness programs. 

(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Homeland Security Investigations 

shall— 
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(A) maintain a concept of operations that identifies 

CCHT participants, funding, core functions, and personnel; 

and 

(B) update such concept of operations, as needed, to 

accommodate its mission and the threats to such mission. 

(4) PERSONNEL.— 

(A) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 

shall appoint a CCHT Director, who shall— 

(i) be a member of the Senior Executive Service; 

and 

(ii) serve as the Department of Homeland Security’s representative on human trafficking. 

(B) MINIMUM CORE PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS.—Subject to appropriations, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

shall ensure that CCHT is staffed with at least 45 

employees in order to maintain continuity of effort, subject 

matter expertise, and necessary support to the Department 

of Homeland Security, including— 

(i) employees who are responsible for the Continued Presence Program and other victim protection 

duties; 

(ii) employees who are responsible for training, 

including curriculum development, and public awareness and education; 

(iii) employees who are responsible for stakeholder 

engagement, Federal interagency coordination, multilateral partnerships, and policy; 

(iv) employees who are responsible for public relations, human resources, evaluation, data analysis and 

reporting, and information technology; 

(v) special agents and criminal analysts necessary 

to accomplish its mission of combating human trafficking and the importation of goods produced with 

forced labor; and 

(vi) managers. 

(b) OPERATIONS UNIT.—The CCHT Director shall operate, 

within CCHT, an Operations Unit, which shall, at a minimum— 

(1) support criminal investigations of human trafficking 

(including sex trafficking and forced labor)— 

(A) by developing, tracking, and coordinating leads; 

and 

(B) by providing subject matter expertise; 

(2) augment the enforcement of the prohibition on the 

importation of goods produced with forced labor through civil 

and criminal authorities; 

(3) coordinate a Department-wide effort to conduct procurement audits and enforcement actions, including suspension and 

debarment, in order to mitigate the risk of human trafficking 

throughout Department acquisitions and contracts; and 

(4) support all CCHT enforcement efforts with intelligence 

by conducting lead development, lead validation, case support, 

strategic analysis, and data analytics. 

(c) PROTECTION AND AWARENESS PROGRAMS UNIT.—The CCHT 

Director shall operate, within CCHT, a Protection and Awareness 

Programs Unit, which shall— 
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(1) incorporate a victim-centered approach throughout 

Department of Homeland Security policies, training, and practices; 

(2) operate a comprehensive Continued Presence program; 

(3) conduct, review, and assist with Department of Homeland Security human trafficking training, screening, and identification tools and efforts; 

(4) operate the Blue Campaign’s nationwide public awareness effort and any other awareness efforts needed to encourage 

victim identification and reporting to law enforcement and to 

prevent human trafficking; and 

(5) coordinate external engagement, including training and 

events, regarding human trafficking with critical partners, 

including survivors, nongovernmental organizations, corporations, multilateral entities, law enforcement agencies, and other 

interested parties. 

SEC. 4. SPECIALIZED INITIATIVES. 

(a) HUMAN TRAFFICKING INFORMATION MODERNIZATION INITIA- TIVE.—The CCHT Director, in conjunction with the Science and 

Technology Directorate Office of Science and Engineering, shall 

develop a strategy and proposal to modify systems and processes 

throughout the Department of Homeland Security that are related 

to CCHT’s mission in order to— 

(1) decrease the response time to access victim protections; 

(2) accelerate lead development; 

(3) advance the identification of human trafficking 

characteristics and trends; 

(4) fortify the security and protection of sensitive information; 

(5) apply analytics to automate manual processes; and 

(6) provide artificial intelligence and machine learning to 

increase system capabilities and enhance data availability, reliability, comparability, and verifiability. 

(b) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Upon the completion of the strategy 

and proposal under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a summary of the strategy and plan for executing 

the strategy to— 

(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

(2) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

of Representatives. 

SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

(a) INFORMATION SHARING TO FACILITATE REPORTS AND ANAL- YSIS.—Each subagency of the Department of Homeland Security 

shall share with CCHT— 

(1) any information needed by CCHT to develop the 

strategy and proposal required under section 4(a); and 

(2) any additional data analysis to help CCHT better understand the issues surrounding human trafficking. 

(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

date of the enactment of this Act, the CCHT Director shall submit 

a report to Congress that identifies any legislation that is needed 

to facilitate the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to 

end human trafficking. 

(c) ANNUAL REPORT ON POTENTIAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
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this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to Congress that includes— 

(1) the numbers of screened and identified potential victims 

of trafficking (as defined in section 103(17) of the Trafficking 

Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(17))) at or 

near the international border between the United States and 

Mexico, including a summary of the age ranges of such victims 

and their countries of origin; and 

(2) an update on the Department of Homeland Security’s 

efforts to establish protocols and methods for personnel to 

report human trafficking, pursuant to the Department of Homeland Security Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, the 

Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor, and Child 

Sexual Exploitation, published in January 2020. 

SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF OTHER FUNCTIONS RELATED TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

(a) BLUE CAMPAIGN.—The functions and resources of the Blue 

Campaign located within the Office of Partnership and Engagement 

on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act are hereby 

transferred to CCHT. 

(b) OTHER TRANSFER.— 

(1) AUTHORIZATION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

Security may transfer the functions and resources of any component, directorate, or other office of the Department of Homeland 

Security related to combating human trafficking to the CCHT. 

(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days before executing 

any transfer authorized under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

of Homeland Security shall notify the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 

of such planned transfer. 

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated, 

there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Homeland 

Security to carry out this Act $14,000,000, which shall remain 

available until expended. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.