In August 2024, U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Representatives Glenn Ivey (D-MD), David Valadao (R-CA), and Delia Ramirez (D-IL) introduced The Continued Presence Improvement Act to strengthen protections for human trafficking survivors in the U.S. This bill aims to reduce survivors’ vulnerability to further exploitation and to support law enforcement investigations by making commonsense reforms to the existing Continued Presence program.
Susan Esserman, Founder and CEO of the SAFE Center, has been working for a number of years with Senator Cardin’s office and the Department of Homeland Security Center for Countering Human Trafficking on this legislation. Representative Glenn Ivey is leading the companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The Continued Presence Improvement Act would substantially strengthen protections for human trafficking survivors in the U.S. and reduce their vulnerability to further exploitation,” said Esserman. “The Continued Presence program is currently underutilized, and we have seen its limitations create severe hardships for the survivors we serve. This bill would address those limitations and enable human trafficking survivors to work, stabilize their lives and better support law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of traffickers.”
See Senator Cardin’s press release here.
