WVFFC Joins Coalition of 100+ Organizations Urging Congress to Pass the TSRA
CHARLESTON – The WV Faith & Freedom Coalition (WVFFC) has joined over 100 organizations around the nation asking Congress to pass H.R. 7137, the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA), which provides relief to trafficking survivors who have been unjustly criminalized as a result of their trafficking victimization.
The legislation would allow survivors of human trafficking with federal records for certain crimes committed as a direct result of their trafficking situation to vacate convictions and expunge arrest records. It would also allow for an affirmative defense for victims of human trafficking to assert at the outset of the criminal justice process. Finally, the bill would expressly permit Department of Justice (DOJ) grants to allow for legal representation for survivors including proceedings related to vacatur, expungement and other post-conviction relief measures.
We call on Congress to act on this historic and important bill to provide relief to some of our nation’s most vulnerable victims of trafficking and allow them to put a dark chapter of their lives behind them.
Resources:
https://polarisproject.org/blog/2022/08/criminalizing-victims-trafficking-survivors-with-criminal-records-deserve-relief/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7137
