Gilder Lehrman Center Colleague Amb. Luis C.deBaca in the News for Anti-Human Trafficking Work

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition applauds former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks during her deposition last week before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in regard to the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein. In her opening statement, Secretary Clinton decried the worldwide crises of crimes against women and girls, describing the ongoing prevalence of "human trafficking, forced labor and sexual slavery" as a "global scourge with an unimaginable human toll." She also referred to her efforts, as President Barack Obama's Secretary of State, to combat global human trafficking networks, which she pursued in part by appointing former federal prosecutor Luis C.deBaca as Ambassador at Large for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Currently, Amb. C.deBaca (ret.) is a Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan Law School. The Gilder Lehrman Center and Yale University are proud to claim Lou deBaca as a colleague and friend. From 2018 through 2021, he was a GLC Senior Fellow in Modern Slavery; from 2021 through 2024, he worked in collaboration with the University of Michigan, the Yale School of Architecture, and the GLC on an interdisciplinary project called "Ending Modern Slavery in the Built Environment"; and most recently, he was a member of the GLC's Future of Slavery and Emancipation Working Group. The GLC commends Secretary Clinton and Amb. C.deBaca for their commitment to ending human trafficking and sexual violence and to supporting the survivors of such crimes. 

Read Secretary Clinton's opening statement here.

Listen to a podcast interview with Luis C.deBaca here. 

Watch a panel discussion, "Prosecuting Slavery in a Time of Freedom," featuring Amb. C.deBaca in conversation with GLC Visting Fellow Karen Zipf (Professor of History, East Carolina University) and two former Involuntary Servitude and Slavery coordinators in the Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division: Bruce Berger and Susan King.

Photo caption: Amb. Luis C.deBaca (ret.) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December, 2025 at Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace & Security’s conference "Confronting Modern Day Slavery: A Blueprint for Renewed Action”