---
kind: "section"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 28"
title: "18"
title_heading: "Crimes and Criminal Procedure"
number: "28"
heading: "Human trafficking defense"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/18/28"
units:
  - "Part I — Crimes"
  - "Chapter 1 — General Provisions"
---

# §28. Human trafficking defense

- (a) **Definitions.—** In this section—
  - (1) the term “covered Federal offense” means a level A offense or level B offense, as those terms are defined in [section 3771A](/usc/18/3771A.md); and
  - (2) the term “victim of trafficking” has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ([22 U.S.C. 7102](/usc/22/7102.md)).
- (b) **Duress.—** In a prosecution for a covered Federal offense, a defendant may establish duress by demonstrating that the defendant was a victim of trafficking at the time at which the defendant committed the offense.
- (c) **Record or Proceeding Under Seal.—** In any proceeding in which a defense under [subsection (b)](#b) is raised, any record or part of the proceeding related to the defense shall, on motion, be placed under seal until such time as a conviction is entered for the offense.
- (d) **Post-Conviction Relief.—** A failure to assert, or failed assertion of, a defense under [subsection (b)](#b) by an individual who is convicted of a covered Federal offense may not preclude the individual from asserting as a mitigating factor, at sentencing or in a proceeding for any post-conviction relief, that at the time of the commission of the offense, the defendant was a victim of trafficking and committed the offense under duress.
- (e) **Federal Aid.—** A failure to assert, or failed assertion of, a defense under [subsection (b)](#b) by an individual who is convicted of a covered Federal offense may not be used for the purpose of disqualifying the individual from participating in any federally funded program that aids victims of trafficking.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 119–73, § 6(a), Jan. 23, 2026, 139 Stat. 2009.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Rule of Construction

Pub. L. 119–73, § 8, Jan. 23, 2026, 139 Stat. 2010, provided that: “Nothing in this Act [see Short Title of 2026 Amendment note set out under section 1 of this title], or the amendments made by this Act, may be construed to conflict with any of the crime victims’ rights described in section 3771 of title 18, United States Code.”