February 20, 2026
Ms. Chu (for herself, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Amo, Mr. Bell, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Garcia of California, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Gomez, Ms. Norton, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Lieu, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Omar, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Simon, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Velázquez, and Ms. Williams of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To halt removal of certain nationals of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Findings
Congress finds as follows:
(1)
Millions of Southeast Asian Americans live in the United States, including 2,182,735 Vietnamese Americans, 338,637 Cambodian Americans, 254,304 Laotian Americans, and 326,843 Hmong Americans, according to the 2019 American Community Survey. Many of these communities arrived as refugees beginning over 40 years ago from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam in the aftermath of the wars in Southeast Asia (more commonly known as the Vietnam War
).
(2)
The United States intervened in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam between 1954 and 1975, to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia through direct military interventions and covert and clandestine operations.
(3)
South Vietnam allied with the United States in opposition to the expansion of North Vietnam until the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. As a result of this service, many Vietnamese Americans to this day still suffer lasting trauma from the war, including post-traumatic stress disorder and exposure to Agent Orange. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and various agencies enlisted over 30,000 soldiers from Hmong, Lao, and Laotian ethnic groups in Laos as allies to aid United States forces in Southeast Asia, waging a 13-year covert operation called the Secret War
against the Pathet Lao, Viet Cong, and Northern Vietnamese Army.
(4)
The United States heavily bombed Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country in the world, with over 580,000 bombing missions between 1964 and 1973. Today, an estimated 80,000,000 bombs remain unexploded, with 20,000 people who have been injured or killed since the bombings stopped.
(5)
Between 1969 to 1973, the United States dropped 540,000 tons of bombs into Cambodia against Viet Cong forces, destabilizing the country’s already fragile government. This mass bombing of Cambodia’s countryside helped to fuel the rise of the Khmer Rouge, which subsequently carried out the destruction of Cambodian society and the genocide of an estimated 2,000,000 Cambodians.
(6)
Over 3,000,000 individuals were displaced by war, conflict, and genocide from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Between 1975 to 2008, the United States Government resettled over 1,200,000 Southeast Asian refugees in this country, as part of the largest refugee resettlement effort in the history of the United States. Southeast Asian refugees included survivors of the war in Vietnam and Laos, the genocide in Cambodia, Hmong soldiers and their families who received refugee status in exchange for their service in the Secret War, and other ethnic minority groups persecuted in the aftermath of the war.
(7)
Many Southeast Asian refugees face significant physical and mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, stemming from their experiences escaping war, genocide, torture, and mass starvation. Additionally, many Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in communities that were heavily disinvested and lacked long-term resettlement support, causing many Southeast Asians to also suffer from systemic poverty, discrimination, and linguistic barriers.
(8)
Immigrant communities face significant challenges assimilating as a result of the trauma of war. A 2018 study published by Rashmi Gangamma and Daran Shipman in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy noted that the traumatic nature of (immigrant’s) forced displacement flight, and resettlement can increase vulnerability to mental distress
. First generation immigrants are especially vulnerable to gang violence within communities in which their parents cannot guide them with cultural or political familiarity.
(9)
Key policies during the 1990s including the period’s War on Drugs
, passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, expansion of the carceral system, and over-policing of low-income communities of color entangled a significant number of Southeast Asian Americans, especially Southeast Asian youth, within the criminal justice system. During this period, Southeast Asian youth were incarcerated at twice the rate of White youth for similar offenses.
(10)
Additional immigration policies during the 1990s reinforced this emerging prison to deportation pipeline. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) expanded the category of crimes that could lead to deportation and limited due process protections for noncitizens. IIRIRA also applied these changes retroactively without proper consideration of an individual’s lived circumstances.
(11)
Approximately 15,000 long-term residents of Southeast Asian descent, many of whom initially arrived as child refugees, live in the United States with a final order of removal. These individuals often do not speak the native language of that country, lack familial connections there, and are at risk of being targeted for human rights abuses as a result of historic support for United States anti-communist policies.
(12)
The United States accepted thousands of Vietnamese refugees through the Orderly Departure Program, Humanitarian Resettlement program, and McCain Amendment through 2009, including survivors of re-education centers, former employees of the United States Government and United States companies or organizations, and immediate family members.
(13)
In 2002, the United States and Cambodia signed a bilateral repatriation agreement, hereafter known as the 2002 U.S.-Cambodia Repatriation Agreement. Deportations of Cambodian Americans to Cambodia increased by 366 percent the following year. Over 1,000 Cambodian Americans have been deported to Cambodia since then.
(14)
In 2008, the United States and Vietnam signed a bilateral repatriation agreement, hereafter known as the 2008 U.S.-Vietnam Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). According to section 2, article 2 of the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU, Vietnamese citizens are not subject to return to Vietnam under this Agreement if they arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995, the date on which diplomatic relations were re-established between the U.S. Government and the Vietnamese Government
. President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama both recognized the 2008 United States-Vietnam MOU’s removal protections for pre-1995 refugees.
(15)
In 2020, President Trump’s administration entered into a new memorandum of understanding with Vietnam, expanding the categories of immigrants it could deport to include pre-95 Vietnamese refugees who were previously protected from removal by the 2008 MOU.
Sec. 3. Limitation on the detention and removal of nationals of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam
(a) Limitation on detention and removal
An alien who is subject to an order of removal may not be detained or removed from the United States on or after the date of enactment of this Act if the alien—
(1)
is a national of Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam;
(2)
entered the United States on or before January 1, 2008; and
(3)
has continuously resided in the United States since such entry.
(b) Employment authorization
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall authorize an alien described in subsection (a) to permanently engage in employment in the United States and provide such alien with an employment authorized
endorsement or other appropriate work permit, which shall be valid for a period of 5 years, and may be renewed any number of times.
(c) Limitation on periodic identification
Upon application to the Secretary of Homeland Security, an alien described in subsection (a) who is subject to an order of supervision under section 241(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(3)) shall not be required to appear in person before an immigration officer for periodic identification pursuant to such order of supervision. The Secretary shall, in lieu of such periodic identification, require such an alien to appear virtually before an immigration officer not more frequently than once every 5 years.
Sec. 4. Reconsidering and reopening immigration cases
(a) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General—
(1)
shall grant a motion to reconsider or reopen proceedings pursuant to paragraph (6) or (7) of section 240(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) with respect to any alien who—
(A)
on or after April 24, 1996, but before the date of enactment of this Act—
(i)
was ordered removed, deported, or excluded; or
(ii)
departed the United States pursuant to a grant of voluntary departure under section 240B of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c) (regardless of whether or not the alien was ordered removed, deported, or excluded);
(B)
is a national of Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam; and
(C)
demonstrates that the alien would not have been subject to detention or removal pursuant to this Act if this Act had been in effect on the date on which such order was issued or the voluntary departure took place (except that the requirement under section 3(a)(3) shall not apply);
(2)
shall terminate any removal proceedings reopened under paragraph (1) with prejudice and vacate any order of removal entered before the date of enactment of this Act; and
(3)
shall deem an alien who makes the demonstration under paragraph (1)(C) as not having been removed, deported, excluded, or departed, and as not having failed to depart under a voluntary departure order, for all purposes under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(b) Previously filed application; previous motions To reopen or reconsider
The Attorney General may not reject or deny a motion to reconsider or reopen under subsection (a) because—
(1)
the alien did not include a copy of any previously filed application for relief; or
(2)
the alien had previously filed a motion to reopen or reconsider.
(c) Deadline
The deadline described in paragraphs (6)(B) and (7)(C)(i) of section 240(c) of the Immigrations and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) shall not apply to a motion to reopen or reconsider under this section.
(d) Transportation
The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall provide transportation and travel documents for aliens eligible for reopening or reconsideration of their proceedings under this section, at Government expense, to return to the United States for further immigration proceedings and shall admit or parole the alien into the United States.
(e) Physical presence requirement
For the purpose of applications filed subsequent to reopening under this section pursuant to section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b), or any other application for relief under the immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), removal, deportation, exclusion, or voluntary departure shall not be considered to toll any physical presence requirement.
(f) Judicial review
Notwithstanding any other provision of the Immigration and National Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), any denial of a motion to reopen or reconsider submitted pursuant to this section is subject to de novo judicial review in a Federal district court having jurisdiction over the applicant’s residence or, in the case of an applicant who was removed from the United States, the last known residential address of the applicant in the United States.
Sec. 5. Notice for certain nationals of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam with removal orders
(a) In general
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall—
(1)
provide notice of the provisions of this Act to each alien described in section 3(a); and
(2)
to the extent practicable, provide notice of the provisions of this Act to each alien described in section 4(a).
(b) Contents of notice
The notice described in subsection (a) shall include information explaining the requirements and instructions for filing a motion to reconsider and reopen removal proceedings under section 240(c)(6) and (7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) and under section 4 of this Act.
Sec. 6. Judicial review
(a) Review
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an individual or entity who has been harmed by a violation of this Act may file an action in an appropriate district court of the United States to seek declaratory or injunctive relief.
(b) Rule of construction
Nothing in this Act may be construed to preclude an action filed pursuant to subsection (a) from proceeding as a class action (as such term is defined in section 1711 of title 28, United States Code).