Hernandez’s bill to ‘fund critical assistance programs’ for human trafficking victims passes Texas Legislature

Both chambers of the Texas Legislature recently approved a piece of legislation that is intended to help combat the impact of human trafficking by funding assistance to its victims.

State Rep. Ana Hernandez (D-Houston), who sponsored House Bill 402, took to social media to emphasize the importance of the bill.

"HB 402 will allow the use of assets seized from human traffickers to fund critical assistance programs for trafficking survivors," she said in a tweet.

A University of Texas Austin study estimates that approximately one quarter of the approximately 300,000 human trafficking victims currently in Texas are minors who are trafficked for sex, according to coverage by Spectrum Local News. That has led some nonprofits to focus on helping the survivors of trafficking to put their lives back together once they escape.

“Texas is the second worst state in the country for sex trafficking,” State Rep. Jacey Jetton (R-Sugar Land) was quoted as saying by the Fort Bend Herald.

That is what informed Jetton’s effort to raise the minimum age for workers in sexually-oriented businesses in the state to 21, according to coverage by the Fort Bend Herald. His House Bill 3520 cites reports that such businesses can serve both as places for exploitation and for recruitment by traffickers.

The bill text for HB 402 states that property and funds seized from those engaged in human trafficking can be used for the purpose of assisting victims “regardless of whether the receipt of the proceeds or property occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this act.”