Luis C.DeBaca

Co-Investigator

Luis C.deBaca is Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan Law School and an Affiliated Scholar at Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. He led U.S. government activities in the global fight against contemporary forms of slavery during the Obama administration as Ambassador at Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. He has investigated and prosecuted complex criminal cases, negotiated labor and human rights advances, and managed multi-million dollar grant portfolios.

C.deBaca updated statutes created after the Civil War to develop the victim-centered approach to modern slavery that has become the global standard for combating human trafficking. As one of the most decorated U.S. federal prosecutors, he investigated and prosecuted cases of trafficking/slavery, hate crimes, and police misconduct, as well as immigration, organized crime, and money laundering. He was 2017-2019 Soros Open Society Human Rights Fellow (focusing on worker-led social responsibility) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.