LANSING, MICH.—A Senate bill moved out of committee this week would expand the locations where human trafficking hotline numbers must be posted.
Supporters said the legislation would send the message that help is available at the places where traffickers most often operate—hotels and motels.
“Every lodging facility (in) this state should send the same message,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak. “We see you, we’re watching and help is available.”
Human trafficking is defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as involving the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act from an individual. Millions of men, women and children every year are trafficked worldwide, and “victims can be any age, race, gender or nationality.”
Ways to Lure Victims
Traffickers often operate under the guise of legitimate businesses or relationships, using methods like violence, manipulation, romantic relationships or false promises of well-paying jobs to lure victims.
In recent years, traffickers have adapted their tactics to target individuals through online platforms and personal networks, often looking for people who are experiencing psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, natural disasters or political instability.
“Communities may not always be aware of the signs or the presence of trafficking within their midst, which makes public education and awareness crucial,” according to DHS.
With large agricultural sectors and borders close to Canada, Michigan was described by the nonprofit Hope Against Trafficking as a “hotspot for traffickers.”
McMorrow said the state sits at the intersection of major highway corridors and international crossing points and hosts high-profile events like the Detroit Auto Show, “and traffickers know it.”
Thousands of Calls
According to numbers from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 10,930 signals have been received from Michigan between 2007 and the present, including 8,662 hotline calls, 999 text reports, 859 online reports, 250 emails and 160 web chats.
The calls have helped identify 3,307 cases of human trafficking affecting 6,909 victims.
In 2024 alone, there were 340 cases identified in Michigan, affecting 585 victims.
According to a 2024 report by Michigan’s Human Trafficking Commission, “these numbers are not complete and likely are at least five times greater,” with Michigan routinely ranked among the states with the highest number of reports of human trafficking.
McMorrow said that, to combat trafficking, the state now requires trafficking hotline numbers be posted at rest areas, airports, adult entertainment venues and other locations with a known trafficking history.
“It’s a good start, but it doesn’t go far enough,” she said.
Her Senate Bill 481 would expand that requirement to include every hotel and motel in Michigan, mandating that each post the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline number.
“One sign, one number, and we know that it can save a life,” McMorrow said.
A Message to Traffickers
She said the change will not only give victims a way to seek help but will also send a message to traffickers that “Michigan isn’t a place where you will get away with this exploitation.”
She said the bill grew out of the work of the Detroit Human Trafficking Task Force.
In May 2024, the Detroit City Council voted unanimously to adopt similar legislation mandating trafficking signage for the city.
Amy Smith, a task force member and the director of Healing Services with Avalon Healing Center in Detroit, said trafficking is happening “in plain sight across our communities, particularly in locations like hotels and motels.”
Smith said that when the task force first reached out to hotel management and staff members in the Detroit area, many of them didn’t realize that human trafficking was occurring on their property.
“We did not see this as a lack of willingness, but a lack of preparation,” Smith said.
Tishuara Patterson, another specialist at Avalon, said she was trafficked over 20 years ago in St. Louis, Missouri.
“My experience was also that no one intervened in these public places like motels and hotels,” she said.
Patterson said she believes the Senate bill will provoke some thoughts as to what trafficking is and where it occurs.
An Opportunity to Educate
She said hotel owners and management could also see the signs as an opportunity to educate themselves.
“This is just bringing awareness to what we all have been experiencing and maybe have lacked the knowledge or the willingness to say something,” Patterson said.
After testimony from survivors and supporters at a March 24 meeting, the Senate Housing and Human Services Committee voted the bill out of committee on Tuesday, April 14.
Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, one of two senators who declined to vote, expressed some concern that the bill didn’t also apply to short-term rentals.
Jack Trebtoske, who spoke on behalf of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association in support of the bill, echoed that sentiment.
‘A Cause Our Industry Takes Seriously’
He said the association’s more than 500 hotels and lodging properties are supportive of the change and “combating human trafficking is a cause our industry takes seriously. “Our members are often the first line of defense in identifying and reporting trafficking activity,” he said.
At the same time, Trebtoske said the legislation, as it is now, has a “significant gap” caused by exempting short-term rentals.
“These properties offer the same and in many cases greater opportunity for trafficking to occur,” Trebtoske said. “Private settings, minimal oversight, cash or platform mediated transactions and no trained staff on premises. If the goal of Senate Bill 481 is to ensure that anyone in a vulnerable situation has access to help, exempting an enormous and fast-growing segment of the lodging market undermines that goal entirely.”
Committee Chair Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said there’s been an active conversation around developing a substitute that would “fill this hole.”
The bill was supported by the National Association of Social Workers MI Chapter and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
It will now advance to the Senate floor for a vote.
