Executive Summary
- The US DOJ has not released nearly $90 million in congressionally appropriated funds for human trafficking survivors.
- Over 100 organizations have lost funding since October, leading to staff cuts and reduced services.
- Senators accuse the Trump administration of illegally withholding the resources.
- Advocates warn that the funding gap exposes survivors to homelessness, deportation, and re-exploitation.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has halted the distribution of nearly $90 million in congressionally appropriated funds intended to support survivors of human trafficking, leaving more than 100 advocacy organizations without expected federal financing. According to an investigation detailed by The Guardian, the funding freeze has persisted since the start of the fiscal year in October, placing thousands of survivors at risk of homelessness and impeding law enforcement cooperation.
Advocates and service providers report that the delay is dismantling critical support infrastructure. The failure to release the allocated funds has forced non-profits to reduce staff and limit services. Lynn Sanchez, a director at The Life Link in New Mexico, stated that her organization’s grants ran out on September 30. Consequently, the team has shrunk from 11 staff members to five, reducing their capacity to house survivors from roughly 50 individuals a year to fewer than 30.
Current and former staff members at the DOJ’s Office for Victims of Crime indicated that the necessary bureaucratic steps to release the funds were completed months ago. Kristina Rose, the former director of the office, described the delay as unprecedented, stating, "It just doesn’t make any sense, because the money is there." A DOJ spokesperson responded that the department is focused on the "efficient use of taxpayer dollars" and intends to begin the public process for making funds available in the coming weeks.
The withholding of resources has drawn sharp criticism from Capitol Hill. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who serves on the Senate appropriations subcommittee funding the DOJ, accused the Trump administration of "illegally" withholding resources approved by lawmakers. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico also expressed outrage, calling for the immediate restoration of funding to prevent further harm to vulnerable populations.
Survivors such as Jordann Hare, who credits federally funded services with saving her life after years of exploitation, expressed dismay at the government’s inaction. Hare described the failure to provide support as "an abuse of power" that mirrors the dynamics of trafficking, leaving victims with nowhere to turn.
Legislative Compliance and Social Safety
The current impasse regarding the release of these funds highlights a significant tension between legislative appropriations and executive agency implementation. The delay in allocating $90 million raises concerns regarding the operational continuity of victim services, which are integral to the broader criminal justice strategy of rehabilitating survivors and securing witness cooperation in trafficking prosecutions. From a regulatory standpoint, the situation underscores the friction that can occur when administrative priorities conflict with congressional spending mandates, potentially creating gaps in public safety networks that rely on consistent federal backing.
