Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Trafficking Zones 
Act’’ or the ‘‘NTZ Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Child sex trafficking can have devastating 
immediate and long-term consequences, including 
health impacts, psychological and physical trauma, 
and even death. 
(2) While any child can be targeted by a traf-
ficker, research, data, survivors’ lived experiences, and 
expertise have revealed that traffickers often target 
vulnerable youth who lack strong support networks, 
supervision, care, or basic necessities, have low self-es-
teem, have experienced violence in the past, are expe-
riencing homelessness, are experiencing academic dif-
ficulties, or are marginalized by society, and lure 
them into forced labor and prostitution and other 
forms of sexual exploitation. Traffickers are masters 
of manipulation and prey upon vulnerabilities using 
psychological pressure, intimidation, and drugs to 
control and sexually exploit the child for their benefit. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:39 Sep 20, 2022
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H7566.RH
H7566
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
(3) The National Center for Missing and Ex-
ploited Children (NCMEC) has received reports of 
child sex trafficking in all 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These reports include in-
cidents occurring in every type of community, includ-
ing suburban, rural, urban, and Tribal lands. In 
2021, NCMEC received more than 17,200 reports of 
possible child sex trafficking. 
(4) Of 22,326 trafficking victims and survivors 
identified through contacts with the National Human 
Trafficking Hotline in 2019, at least 5,359 were 
under age 18. 
(5) Many underage victims of sex trafficking are 
students in the United States school system. No com-
munity, school, socioeconomic group, or student demo-
graphic is immune. 
(6) While the internet and social media make up 
the majority of first encounters, traffickers regularly 
find young people in shopping malls, through friends, 
at bus stops, and at schools. Specifically, traffickers 
systematically target vulnerable children and youth 
by frequenting locations where young people con-
gregate, including schools. They also use peers or 
classmates, who befriend the target and slowly groom 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:39 Sep 20, 2022
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H7566.RH
H7566
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
them for the trafficker by bringing the young person 
along to parties and other activities. 
(7) A 2018 survey reported that 55 percent of 
young sex trafficking survivors in Texas were traf-
ficked while at school or school activities and 60 per-
cent of trafficked adults say they were first groomed 
and solicited for trafficking on school campuses. 
(8) Schools can and should be safe havens for 
students. Schools are best positioned to identify and 
report suspected trafficking and connect affected stu-
dents to critical services. Students are more likely to 
report instances of sex trafficking, attempted sex traf-
ficking, or grooming for the purposes of sex trafficking 
where they feel most safe from harm and threats. 
SEC. 3. INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR HUMAN TRAF-
FICKING IN SCHOOL ZONES. 
Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection 
(f); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e)(1) Whoever violates subsection (a) in a school 
zone, or on, or within 1,000 feet of, a premises on which 
a school-sponsored activity is taking place, or on, or within 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:39 Sep 20, 2022
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H7566.RH
H7566
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
1,000 feet of a premises owned by an institution of higher 
education, shall, in addition to the punishment otherwise 
provided under this section, be imprisoned for not more 
than 5 years. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘school zone’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 921. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘school-sponsored activity’ means 
any activity that is produced, financed, arranged, su-
pervised, or coordinated by a school or a State edu-
cational agency or local educational agency or is 
under the jurisdiction of a State educational agency 
or local educational agency. 
‘‘(C) The terms ‘State educational agency’ and 
‘local educational agency’ have the meanings given 
those terms under section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(D) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).’’. 
SEC. 4. INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR COERCION AND EN-
TICEMENT IN SCHOOL ZONES. 
Section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:39 Sep 20, 2022
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H7566.RH
H7566
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘individual 
who has not attained the age of 18 years’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘minor’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c)(1) Whoever violates subsection (a) or (b) knowing, 
or having reasonable cause to believe, that the violation is 
committed against a minor who is enrolled in school and 
is, at the time of the violation, in a school zone or on, or 
within 1,000 feet of, a premises on which a school-sponsored 
activity is taking place, or against a person who is enrolled 
in an institution of higher education and is, at the time 
of the violation on or within 1,000 feet of a premises owned 
by the institution of higher education, shall, in addition 
to the punishment otherwise provided under this section, 
be imprisoned for not more than 5 years. 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in a case in which 
a minor’s presence on, or within 1,000 feet of, the premises 
on which a school-sponsored activity is taking place is not 
related to such school-sponsored activity, or the person’s 
presence on or within 1,000 feet of the premises owned by 
the institution of higher education is not related to their 
enrollment at such institution. 
‘‘(d) In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘minor’ means an individual who 
has not attained 18 years of age. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:39 Sep 20, 2022
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H7566.RH
H7566
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB