§ 1589. Forced labor

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

1. 2000

   Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

   Pub. L. 106–386 div. A § 112(a)(2) · 114 Stat. 1464

   Enacted · 18 U.S.C. § 1589

   Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1486

   Source evidence

   Code source credit
   Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1486

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   (2) by inserting at the end the following: “§ 1589. Forced labor “Whoever knowingly provides or obtains the labor or services of a person— “(1) by threats of serious harm to, or physical restraint against, that person or another person; “(2) by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if the person did not perform such labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or “(3) by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal process, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from the violation of this section, or if the violation includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or the attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both. “§ 1590. Trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor “Whoever knowingly recruits, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means, any person for labor or services in violation of this chapter shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from the violation of this section, or if the violation includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or the attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both. “§ 1591. Sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud or coercion “(a) Whoever knowingly— “(1) in or affecting interstate commerce, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means a person; or “(2) benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act described in violation of paragraph (1), knowing that force, fraud, or coercion described in subsection (c)(2) will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of 18 years and will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b). “(b) The punishment for an offense under subsection (a) is— “(1) if the offense was effected by force, fraud, or coercion or if the person transported had not attained the age of 14 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under thus title or imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both; or “(2) if the offense was not so effected, and the person transported had attained the age of 14 years but had not attained the age of 18 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both. “(c) In this section: “(1) The term ‘commercial sex act’ means any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. “(2) The term ‘coercion’ means— “(A) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; “(B) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or “(C) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal process. “(3) The term ‘venture’ means any group of two or more individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal entity. “§ 1592. Unlawful conduct with respect to documents in furtherance of trafficking, peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor “(a) Whoever knowingly destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, or possesses any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document, of another person— “(1) in the course of a violation of section 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1591, or 1594(a); “(2) with intent to violate section 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, or 1591; or “(3) to prevent or restrict or to attempt to prevent or restrict, without lawful authority, the persons liberty to move or travel, in order to maintain the labor or services of that person, when the person is or has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. “(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to the conduct of a person who is or has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, if that conduct is caused by, or incident to, that trafficking. “§ 1593. Mandatory restitution “(a) Notwithstanding section 3663 or 3663A, and in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties authorized by law, the court shall order restitution for any offense under this chapter. “(b) (1) The order of restitution under this section shall direct the defendant to pay the victim (through the appropriate court mechanism) the full amount of the victim’s losses, as determined by the court under paragraph (3) of this subsection. “(2) An order of restitution under this section shall be issued and enforced in accordance with section 3664 in the same manner as an order under section 3663A. “(3) As used in this subsection, the term ‘full amount of the victim’s losses’ has the same meaning as provided in section 2259(b)(3) and shall in addition include the greater of the gross income or value to the defendant of the victim’s services or labor or the value of the victim’s labor as guaranteed under the minimum wage and overtime guarantees of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). “(c) As used in this section, the term ‘victim’ means the individual harmed as a result of a crime under this chapter, including, in the case of a victim who is under 18 years of age, incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased, the legal guardian of the victim or a representative of the victim’s estate, or another family member, or any other person appointed as suitable by the court, but in no event shall the defendant be named such representative or guardian. “§ 1594. General provisions “(a) Whoever attempts to violate section 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, or 1591 shall be punishable in the same manner as a completed violation of that section. “(b) The court, in imposing sentence on any person convicted of a violation of this chapter, shall order, in addition to any other sentence imposed and irrespective of any provision of State law, that such person shall forfeit to the United States— “(1) such person’s interest in any property, real or personal, that was used or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of such violation; and “(2) any property, real or personal, constituting or derived from, any proceeds that such person obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such violation. “(c) (1) The following shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States and no property right shall exist in them: “(A) Any property, real or personal, used or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of any violation of this chapter. “(B) Any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to any violation of this chapter. “(2) The provisions of chapter 46 of this title relating to civil forfeitures shall extend to any seizure or civil forfeiture under this subsection. “(d) Witness Protection.— Any violation of this chapter shall be considered an organized criminal activity or other serious offense for the purposes of application of chapter 224 (relating to witness protection). ; and

2. 2008

   William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008

   Pub. L. 110–457 title II § 222(b)(3) · 122 Stat. 5044

   Amended · 18 U.S.C. § 1589

   Pub. L. 110–457 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section provided penalties for knowingly providing or obtaining forced labor

   Source evidence

   Code amendment note
   Pub. L. 110–457 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section provided penalties for knowingly providing or obtaining forced labor.

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   (3) Punishing financial gain from trafficked labor.— Section 1589 of such title is amended to read as follows: “SEC. 1589. FORCED LABOR. “(a) Whoever knowingly provides or obtains the labor or services of a person by any one of, or by any combination of, the following means— “(1) by means of force, threats of force, physical restraint, or threats of physical restraint to that person or another person; “(2) by means of serious harm or threats of serious harm to that person or another person; “(3) by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process; or “(4) by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if that person did not perform such labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint, shall be punished as provided under subsection (d). “(b) Whoever knowingly benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in the providing or obtaining of labor or services by any of the means described in subsection (a), knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the venture has engaged in the providing or obtaining of labor or services by any of such means, shall be punished as provided in subsection (d). “(c) In this section: “(1) The term ‘abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process’ means the use or threatened use of a law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking some action. “(2) The term ‘serious harm’ means any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, financial, or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or to continue performing labor or services in order to avoid incurring that harm. “(d) Whoever violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from a violation of this section, or if the violation includes kidnaping, an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.” .

2 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision