Reprinted from original post on Oxford Human Rights Hub- written by Julie A. Dahlstrom and Rachel J. Wechsler

The second Trump administration has just passed the “first-100-days” benchmark, and there is deep concern about the devastating impact of President Trump’s executive actions on efforts to combat human trafficking. In his first term, Trump promised to bring the “full force and weight” of the U.S. government against the “epidemic” of human trafficking. However, under Trump’s leadership, federal human trafficking prosecutions fell, and his policies often left survivors unable to access important protections, like T visas. Now in his second term, Trump has renewed calls for harsh measures, like the death penalty, to address purported perpetrators of sex trafficking. Yet, despite his anti-trafficking rhetoric, his executive orders are poised to exacerbate the drivers of human trafficking and cause profound harm to trafficking survivors.

President Trump has used the problem of human trafficking to justify draconian immigration policies, but these very policies have served to exacerbate, rather than mitigate, human trafficking vulnerability. On the first day of his second term, Trump issued executive orders imposing a moratorium on seeking asylum in the U.S. via the southern border until he “issue[s] a finding that the invasion at the southern border has ceased” and suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Denying protection to refugees who are fleeing persecution—a violation of U.S. obligations under the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—risks making migrants even more vulnerable to human trafficking. Absent lawful pathways to refugee status, vulnerable asylum seekers face extreme risk from organized crime and drug cartels, which frequently exploit immigrants for forced work and commercial sex. Some groups, such as unaccompanied minors, are particularly vulnerable, especially since the Trump administration cut funding for their legal representation.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s actions chill the reporting of sex trafficking and forced labour. Trump’s goal of mass deportations and aggressive use of immigration detention keep immigrant victims in the shadows, too fearful to report their victimization. In March 2025, the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests was more than double the monthly numbers in 2024. Under Trump’s leadership, ICE has more than tripled the number of collaboration agreements with local law enforcement, increasing the number of active agreements to 456 in April 2025. These collaborations to enforce immigration laws make it even less likely that trafficking victims, many of whom already fear deportation and reprisals from their traffickers, will feel safe seeking help from local authorities. ICE has also weakened protections for trafficking survivors by rescinding ICE directives that had promoted the use of  a “victim-centered approach.” Although protections like U and T visas for immigrant survivors still exist, many advocates worry that survivors will be too afraid to apply for these immigration benefits because then their information will be in the government’s immigration system.

Moreover, the Trump administration’s abrupt defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other programs is likely to exacerbate trafficking vulnerability. USAID-funded programs tackled many of the root causes of human trafficking around the world—including poverty, food insecurity, violence against women and girls, and a lack of educational and employment opportunities. The administration has also defunded programs specifically aimed at preventing trafficking and assisting victims. In March 2025, it cancelled $500 million in existing grants that funded 69 programs combatting human trafficking, child labour, and forced labour in more than 40 counties. In April, the administration terminated at least 365 Office of Justice Programs grants, including grants that funded anti-trafficking initiatives for organizations serving immigrants and grants for crime victims’ hotlines and support services. These deep funding cuts implicate U.S. obligations under Article 6 of the Palermo Protocol concerning assistance and protection for trafficking victims and make it less likely that survivors will have the support they need to exit exploitative situations.

Trump’s anti-transgender and anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion executive orders threaten to make marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals and people of colour, more at risk and decrease our knowledge of their victimization experiences. In response to these executive orders, the State Department will reportedly eliminate critical information about marginalized groups from the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The administration has stripped stories about the experiences of marginalized trafficking survivors from at least one government website. Non-profits have also begun to remove key resources and publications related to marginalized communities, concerned that their inclusion may lead to a loss of federal funding. Jose Alfaro, a trafficking survivor and expert, warned that these efforts will “further stigmatize and also push everything underground” to the benefit of traffickers.

President Trump’s executive actions over the past 100-plus days contravene the anti-trafficking efforts that have been carefully cultivated and studied over the course of the last quarter-century. They also undermine U.S. compliance with its obligations under international law. The cumulative negative impact of the current administration’s policies will undoubtedly be felt by human trafficking survivors and other vulnerable groups for many years to come.

Julie A. Dahlstrom is the Associate Dean of Experiential Education and Director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program at Boston University School of Law. She writes legal scholarship on human trafficking law, immigration law, and gender-based violence. Rachel J. Wechsler is an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law and a Faculty Scholar at the Middleton Center for Race, Citizenship, and Justice. Her socio-legal scholarship examines gender-based violence and restorative justice at the intersection of Criminal Law, Family Law, and International Human Rights Law.