Nessel, Michigan lawmakers seek to toughen ‘critical’ human trafficking laws

Michigan lawmakers from both major parties join Attorney General Dana Nessel in push to strengthen laws against human trafficking
Proposal would toughen penalties for traffickers, provide more support for victims
Amid a budget impasse, Nessel said proposed cuts to her department would render it impossible to enforce laws against trafficking

LANSING — A bipartisan group of legislators are joining forces to try to strengthen Michigan’s human trafficking laws, unveiling a package of bills alongside Attorney General Dana Nessel that would increase penalties for traffickers and provide more support for their victims.

The proposal is “an important and necessary step forward,” Nessel said Wednesday in a news conference.

“These bills are about accountability and putting victims first. They are about holding traffickers fully accountable for their crimes.”

Michigan is the 15th worst state in the US for trafficking per-capita, according to The National Human Trafficking Hotline, which connects victims with support services.

The state has struggled to improve those numbers in part because of its laws, said Melissa Palepu, the chair of the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission.

“I think it’s partly because we don’t have the best legislation to protect our survivors and to prosecute the criminals,” Palepu said. “But it’s also (that) Michigan is a travel hub, so there’s a lot of people coming to and from Michigan.”

The new bills would:

Increase penalties against convicted traffickers, lengthening prison sentences and upping financial penalties. Many offenses would now be 20-year felonies and a $20,000 fine. Trafficking minors would be a life sentence and a $50,000 fine.
Offer victims of trafficking a defense in court for crimes they may have committed while being trafficked, and an avenue to expunge convictions received as victims of human trafficking.
Create “safe harbor” protections for minors, “so kids are treated as victims, not as offenders,” said Rep. Kelly Breen, a Novi Democrat and a primary bill sponsor.
Change language within criminal statutes from “prostitution” to “commercial sex.”

State Sen. John Damoose, a Republican from Harbor Springs, said the proposal backed by fellow legislators and Nessel doesn’t just target the “supply” of trafficked sex workers, but the “demand” for it, too.

“You may be going to prison for the rest of your life if you choose to abuse a minor,” he said, calling the legislation “about as bipartisan an effort as we can get.”

The bills are aimed at all forms of trafficking, not just sex workers but labor trafficking in all industries.

The press conference came one week after a federal grand jury indicted two men behind an alleged church-based human trafficking operation that began in Michigan but spanned multiple states.

Prosecutors allege one of the men demanded his enlisted “armor bearers” bring women to him from ministry houses and other locations, ensuring that they took Plan B emergency contraceptives.

Related:

“This horrific practice knows no boundaries,” said Breen, the Novi Democrat.

“Victims range from infants to the elderly, from small towns to upper class to suburbia to inner cities. It can happen in clubs, restaurants, rural farms, massage parlors, nail salons and the house next door,” she added.

Michigan’s human trafficking laws have received an “F” grade — along with 31 other states — from Polaris, an anti-human trafficking charity, which ranked Michigan 34th out of 50 states.

Budget tensions

Despite the bipartisan push, Nessel also used the press conference to criticize a recent budget plan approved by the Republican-led state House that would cut funding for her department by 30%.

The House “can’t claim to support survivors while irrationally cutting the budget of” the staff fighting trafficking, said Nessel, a second-term Democrat.

Breen, a fellow Democrat, pointed out the House GOP budget would eliminate funding for the state human trafficking commission.

Nessel said her department wouldn’t have staff needed to take over operations in Michigan counties missing prosecutors. They’re currently doing so in Lake County, but would have to withdraw under the House’s spending plan.

“It will be literally like ‘The Purge’ there,” she said, referencing a dystopian horror film.

Nessel’s department also handles appellate cases in 56 of Michigan’s 83 counties that can’t afford to do so on their own, she said, and would have to end the work with the proposed spending cuts. The budget would reduce her department to staffing a single victim advocate for all criminal cases, she said.

It’s unlikely the cuts will be that severe.

The house must compromise with the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a spending plan by Oct. 1, or face a government shutdown. Legislative leaders have been meeting, but it’s unclear how much progress has been made.

The new anti-human trafficking package will include bills introduced in both the House and Senate. Similar bills were proposed in 2023, when Democrats controlled both chambers of the Legislature but did not take up House-approved legislation in the Senate.

“They cannot claim to want to truly hold traffickers accountable while ignoring this critical legislation,” Nessel said.

Nessel urged residents to visit mi.gov/humantrafficking or call 1-855-MICHTIP for assistance.