Bill Text (PDF) | Bill One-Pager (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), alongside Congresswomen Judy Chu (CA-28), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), reintroduced the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act, which would end the deportation of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) refugees, provide critical protections for the more than 15,000 community members living under final orders of removal, and establish a pathway for the more than 2,000 refugees who have already been deported to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to return to the United States.

Between January and October 2025, the Trump administration deported more SEAAs in a single fiscal year than any prior administration — including 46 individuals to Cambodia, 175 to Laos, and 676 to Vietnam. Many of these individuals were shackled hand and foot for flights lasting more than 50 hours to countries they had never set foot in, including Sudan and Eswatini.  The administration also paused immigration applications for 75 countries including the Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.

“Trump’s campaign of terror is traumatizing children, ripping families apart, and harming dedicated community members who have called our country home for years—and that includes Southeast Asian Americans who have planted roots, grown families, and contributed significantly to our communities,” said Rep. Pressley. “This reckless abuse of power must be reigned in, and that means ending deportations and providing critical protections for Southeast Asian American refugees—many of whom reside in the Massachusetts 7^th and strengthen our economy, schools, culture, and more.”

“Donald Trump has made the entire immigrant community his scapegoat to justify horrifying violence, undermine our rights, and tear families apart. That includes Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs) who have called our country home for decades and who are now being targeted and forced to return to countries that are unsafe or completely unfamiliar to them,” said Rep. Chu. In 2025 alone, Trump deported more SEAAs than any president in a single year, and we know this cruelty will continue without action. That is why I am proud to reintroduce the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026 to provide critical protections from detention and deportation for SEAAs who have contributed so immensely to our communities. In the face of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant regime, we will continue to stand with refugees and fight for justice.”

“As the Trump administration has worked criminalize all forms of immigration and terrorized immigrant communities, it is more important than ever that we pass the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act. This is a long-overdue step to end the constant fear of deportation for families across this country,” said Rep. Jayapal. 

“I’m proud to represent San Jose, which has the largest Vietnamese population of any city outside Vietnam,” Rep. Lofgren said. “Many Southeast Asian refugees settled here following the Vietnam War and have become an integral part of our communities. Deporting refugees back to nations where they may face persecution or human rights abuses is completely antithetical to American values. The policy in this bill has been the anti-Communist policy of every administration, both Republican and Democratic, yet the Trump administration cozies up to Communist regimes that threaten human rights. Unlike Trump, I am an anti-Communist, and I recognize that we have to protect folks from removal and we need a pathway to return for those who have already been deported back to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.”

Specifically, the bill would:

• Limit the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to detain or deport Southeast Asian refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who arrived in the United States by 2008;
• Permanently authorize employment eligibility for Southeast Asians with a final order of removal with a five-year renewal period;
• End in-person ICE check-ins and establish five-year intervals between virtual check-ins for Southeast Asians on orders of supervision; and
• Create a pathway for Southeast Asian refugees who have already been deported to return to the U.S. and fight their removal orders.

Text of the bill can be accessed here and a one-pager here.

Southeast Asians from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam comprise the largest refugee population ever resettled in the United States. In the aftermath of U.S. military interventions in the region, more than 1.2 million refugees were welcomed to the United States because they fought alongside the U.S. or were forced to flee genocide, persecution, and violence. Most resettled into heavily disinvested communities with limited access to resources or support systems while grappling with the lingering trauma of war and displacement.

As a result, many Southeast Asian youth made mistakes or were swept into cycles of violence—leading to criminal convictions and incarceration decades ago. Although many have since rebuilt their lives and given back to their communities, many SEAAs continue to face double punishment through deportation for decades-old convictions for which they have already served their time. These individuals often have U.S. citizen family members, serve as primary caregivers in their families, have no recollection of or meaningful ties to their country of origin, and have deep roots in their local communities in America.

“SEADRA is more than policy; it’s a promise of healing, hope, and a future where Southeast Asian families are no longer torn apart. We thank Reps. Judy Chu, Pramila Jayapal, Zoe Lofgren, and Ayanna Pressley for reintroducing this critical legislation and for supporting our Southeast Asian American refugee communities, who have endured decades of trauma and separation. SEADRA recognizes the full lives that people have built here and refuses to erase them,” said Quyên Đinh, Executive Director of Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.

“The SEADRA bill would end deportation for Southeast Asians as we know it. In this moment when we’re told to turn against one another, we must choose a different path: we belong here and no one is disposable. Our communities have organized, resisted and created new worlds when the old ones failed us. This bill is part of that legacy – a call to love and protect one another, especially now.” said Chhaya Chhoum, Co-Executive Director of Southeast Asian Freedom Network

The Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026 is cosponsored by Representatives Judy Chu (CA-28), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18),, Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Grace Meng (NY-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Gwen Moore (WI-04), James McGovern (MA-02), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Adam Smith (WA-09), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Robert Garcia (CA-42).

The Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026 is endorsed by over 100 nationwide and statewide organizations including: A Legacy of Equality Leadership and Organizing (LELO), API Chaya, API RISE, ARISE, Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY.org), Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Americans for Higher Education (APAHE), Asian Prisoner Support Committee, Asian Resources, Inc., Asian Solidarity Collective, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Board of Directors of The International Examiner, Borderlands Resource Initiative, Buen Vecino, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Cambodian American Community Council of WA, Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP), Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc., CAPI, Center for Empowering Refugees & Immigrants, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), Church World Service, City of Seattle, Climate Refugees, Collective Freedom, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, CSU Fullerton, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), End Child Poverty California powered GRACE, F.I.G.H.T, FIRM – Fresno Immigrant and Refugee Ministries, Formerly Incarcerated Group Healing Together (F.I.G.H.T.), Freedom Action Now, Freedom, Inc., Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Hmong American Partnership, Hmong American Women’s Association, Hmong Cultural Center of Butte County, Hmong Innovating Politics, Hmong National Development, Inc., Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Immigrant Defense Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigration Equality Action Fund, InterIm Community Development Association, Jacqueline Tran, Consulting, Japanese American Citizens League, Japanese American Citizens League, Seattle Chapter, Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western MA, Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW, Khmer Alumni Association, Khmer Anti-deportation Advocacy Group (KhAAG), Khmer Community of Seattle-King County, Khmer Girls in Action, Khmer Student Association UW, Lao Assistance Center of MN, Laos In The House, Laotian American National Alliance (LANA), LEAD Filipino, Mekong NYC, Missouri Asian American Youth Foundation, MN8 (Minnesota 8), National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA), National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Cambodian American Organization, National CAPACD – National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, National Education Association, National Immigration Project, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, New Breath Foundation, New Light Wellness, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress, Nikkei Progressives, Northern California Coalition for Just Immigration Reform (NCCJIR), Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, Ohana Ho`opakele, OneAmerica, ORALE (Organizing Rooted in Abolition Liberation & Empowerment), Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, Progressive Vietnamese American Organization (PIVOT), Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), Public Defender Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Rising Voices, ROOTS Laos, RSN, Refugee Support Network, San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Stop AAPI Hate, The Banh Mi Chronicles Podcast, The Cambodian Family, The Sikh Coalition, United Cambodian Community, United Hmong with Disabilities Inc., VAO | Vietnamese American Organization, Viet Rainbow of Orange County (VROC), VietLead, Vietnamese American Roundtable (VAR), and Wing Luke Museum.

In 2022, Rep. Pressley, alongside Reps. Lowenthal, Chu, Jayapal, and Lofgren, originally introduced the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act (SEADRA). She has consistently advocated for protections and the end of deportations for Southeast Asian refugees in the Unites States., including continuing to introduce and push SEADRA in Congress.

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