Las Vegas Sun: Nevada lawmakers push legislation to aid trafficking survivors traveling to get help

U.S. Reps. Susie Lee, D-Nev., and Mark Amodei, R-Nev., reintroduced the Jimmy Deal Trafficking Survivors Assistance Act on Monday, legislation aimed at helping survivors of human trafficking access air travel to escape their traffickers and obtain care.

A companion bill in the Senate was introduced July 30 by U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan.

The lawmakers initially proposed the legislation in 2023, but it did not pass into law before that congressional term concluded.

The legislation is named for the late Transportation Security Administration officer James “Jimmy” Deal, who served as assistant federal security director at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Deal led efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking at the airport and worked with agencies across Nevada to help victims escape their traffickers. Deal died in 2022.

Many human trafficking survivors lack access to identification documents needed to travel by plane when fleeing violence and abuse, the lawmakers said in a news release. Traffickers often control victims’ identification documents, and survivors frequently must leave those documents behind when they flee.

The bill would facilitate air travel for trafficking survivors who lack necessary government identification so they can return to their families and communities, Lee’s office said.

“Survivors of human trafficking often lack the identification and resources needed to travel by air, when all they want is to reach the family and care they need to heal. As a TSA agent here in Nevada, Jimmy Deal knew their struggle and worked to bring local partners to identify victims and get them on their way to safety,” Lee said. “This legislation builds on Jimmy’s legacy by partnering the TSA with advocacy organizations to deliver safe air travel and critical care for human trafficking survivors. I’m proud to champion this bipartisan, comprehensive approach that will reunite families and keep everyone in our airports safe.”

Nevada ranks second in the nation for human trafficking rates per capita, with Las Vegas serving as a major hub, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The Southern Nevada Human Sex Trafficking Gap Analysis report by UNR found roughly 5.8 victims per 100,000 Nevada residents.

Under the proposal, the TSA would establish a “Trafficking Survivor Point of Contact” position at each airport where it conducts screening of passengers and property. The bill also calls for establishing contact, communication and relationships between service-providing organizations and those points of contact to create avenues for identity verification of survivors before they need them.

The bill would also require adequate training for each point of contact to create a more seamless, specialized process.

That training and the accompanying responsibilities would incorporate trauma-informed services and ensure survivors are supported throughout the process of reunification with their families and communities.

“We should be making it as easy as possible for human trafficking survivors to escape their captors and get the help they need,” Cortez Masto said in July, when the legislation was introduced in the Senate. “My friend Jimmy Deal saved lives by helping survivors without identification get approved for travel, and I’m proud to honor his legacy with this legislation.”