Orphanage Trafficking Prevention and Protection Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 4732 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4732 To expand the definition of ``severe forms of trafficking in persons'' to include the recruitment, harboring, transportation, transfer, or receipt of orphaned, abandoned, or minors living in public or private residential facilities, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 23, 2025 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Mfume, and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To expand the definition of ``severe forms of trafficking in persons'' to include the recruitment, harboring, transportation, transfer, or receipt of orphaned, abandoned, or minors living in public or private residential facilities, 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 ``Orphanage Trafficking Prevention and Protection Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Orphaned, abandoned, and children living in public or private residential facilities, including institutions, children's homes, orphanages, boarding schools, or group homes, are among the populations most vulnerable to trafficking in persons worldwide. According to the United States Department of State, children without parental care are at significantly higher risk of being trafficked for labor, sexual exploitation, forced begging, and other illegal purposes. (2) An estimated 5,400,000 children live in institutional care globally, many of whom are not true orphans but are separated from their families due to poverty, disability, or family breakdown. (3) Traffickers often target these childr