Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act
Bill: H.R.7546 | Sponsor: Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila (D-TX)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act
This bill establishes an enhanced penalty—an additional prison term of up to five years—for certain human trafficking offenses that occur in a school zone or on or within 1,000 feet of a premises on which a school-sponsored activity is taking place.

To amend title 18, United States Code, to increase the punishment for 
      human trafficking in a school zone, 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 ``Stop Human Trafficking in School 
Zones 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 trafficker, 
        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-esteem, have experienced violence in 
        the past, are experiencing homelessness, are experiencing 
        academic difficulties, 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.
            (3) The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 
        (NCMEC) has received reports of child sex trafficking in all 50 
        States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These 
        reports include incidents occurring in every type of community, 
        including 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 community, school, 
        socioeconomic group, or student demographic 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 congregate, including schools. They also use peers 
        or classmates, who befriend the target and slowly groom 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 trafficked while at school 
        or school activities and 60 percent 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 students to critical services. 
        Students are more likely to report instances of sex 
        trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, or grooming for the 
        purposes of sex trafficking where they feel most safe from harm 
        and threats.

SEC. 3. INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN SCHOOL ZONES.

    Section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e)(1) Whoever violates subsection (a) in a school zone (as such 
term is defined in section 921), or on, or within 1,000 feet of, a 
premises on which a school-sponsored activity is taking place, shall, 
in addition the punishment otherwise provided under this section, be 
imprisoned for not more than 5 years.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `school-sponsored activity' 
means any activity that is produced, financed, arranged, supervised or 
coordinated by a school, district personnel, or State or local 
educational agency or is under the jurisdiction of a State or local 
educational agency.''.
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