I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5248 

To halt removal of certain nationals of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 22, 2023 

Ms. CHU (for herself, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. 

GOMEZ, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SCANLON, 

and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To halt removal of certain nationals of Cambodia, Laos, 

and Vietnam, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southeast Asian De5 portation Relief Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Millions of Southeast Asian Americans live 

9 in the United States, including 2,182,735 VietVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Aug 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5248.IH H5248

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1 namese Americans, 338,637 Cambodian Americans, 

2 254,304 Laotian Americans, and 326,843 Hmong 

3 Americans, according to the 2019 American Com4 munity Survey. Many of these communities arrived 

5 as refugees beginning over 40 years ago from Cam6 bodia, Laos, and Vietnam in the aftermath of the 

7 wars in Southeast Asia (more commonly known as 

8 the ‘‘Vietnam War’’). 

9 (2) The United States intervened in Cambodia, 

10 Laos, and Vietnam between 1954 and 1975, to pre11 vent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia 

12 through direct military interventions and covert and 

13 clandestine operations. 

14 (3) South Vietnam allied with the United 

15 States in opposition to the expansion of North Viet16 nam until the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. As 

17 a result of this service, many Vietnamese Americans 

18 to this day still suffer lasting trauma from the war, 

19 including post-traumatic stress disorder and expo20 sure to Agent Orange. The Central Intelligence 

21 Agency (CIA) and various agencies enlisted over 

22 30,000 soldiers from Hmong, Lao, and Laotian eth23 nic groups in Laos as allies to aid United States 

24 forces in Southeast Asia, waging a 13-year covert 

25 operation called the ‘‘Secret War’’ against the 


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1 Pathet Lao, Viet Cong, and Northern Vietnamese 

2 Army. 

3 (4) The United States heavily bombed Laos, 

4 making it the most heavily bombed country in the 

5 world, with over 580,000 bombing missions between 

6 1964 and 1973. Today, an estimated 80,000,000 

7 bombs remain unexploded, with 20,000 people who 

8 have been injured or killed since the bombings 

9 stopped. 

10 (5) Between 1969 to 1973, the United States 

11 dropped 540,000 tons of bombs into Cambodia 

12 against Viet Cong forces, destabilizing the country’s 

13 already fragile government. This mass bombing of 

14 Cambodia’s countryside helped to fuel the rise of the 

15 Khmer Rouge, which subsequently carried out the 

16 destruction of Cambodian society and the genocide 

17 of an estimated 2,000,000 Cambodians. 

18 (6) Over 3,000,000 individuals were displaced 

19 by war, conflict, and genocide from Vietnam, Cam20 bodia, and Laos. Between 1975 to 2008, the United 

21 States Government resettled over 1,200,000 South22 east Asian refugees in this country, as part of the 

23 largest refugee resettlement effort in the history of 

24 the United States. Southeast Asian refugees in25 cluded survivors of the war in Vietnam and Laos, 


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1 the genocide in Cambodia, Hmong soldiers and their 

2 families who received refugee status in exchange for 

3 their service in the Secret War, and other ethnic mi4 nority groups persecuted in the aftermath of the 

5 war. 

6 (7) Many Southeast Asian refugees face signifi7 cant physical and mental health issues, such as post8 traumatic stress disorder and depression, stemming 

9 from their experiences escaping war, genocide, tor10 ture, and mass starvation. Additionally, many 

11 Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in commu12 nities that were heavily disinvested and lacked long13 term resettlement support, causing many Southeast 

14 Asians to also suffer from systemic poverty, dis15 crimination, and linguistic barriers. 

16 (8) Immigrant communities face significant 

17 challenges assimilating as a result of the trauma of 

18 war. A 2018 study published by Rashmi Gangamma 

19 and Daran Shipman in the Journal of Marital and 

20 Family Therapy noted that ‘‘the traumatic nature of 

21 (immigrant’s) forced displacement flight, and reset22 tlement can increase vulnerability to mental dis23 tress’’. First generation immigrants are especially 

24 vulnerable to gang violence within communities in 


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1 which their parents cannot guide them with cultural 

2 or political familiarity. 

3 (9) Key policies during the 1990s including the 

4 period’s ‘‘War on Drugs’’, passage of the Violent 

5 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, expansion 

6 of the carceral system, and over-policing of low-in7 come communities of color entangled a significant 

8 number of Southeast Asian Americans, especially 

9 Southeast Asian youth, within the criminal justice 

10 system. During this period, Southeast Asian youth 

11 were incarcerated at twice the rate of White youth 

12 for similar offenses. 

13 (10) Additional immigration policies during the 

14 1990s reinforced this emerging prison to deportation 

15 pipeline. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi16 grant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) and the 

17 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act 

18 (AEDPA) expanded the category of crimes that 

19 could lead to deportation and limited due process 

20 protections for noncitizens. IIRIRA also applied 

21 these changes retroactively without proper consider22 ation of an individual’s lived circumstances. 

23 (11) Approximately 15,000 long-term residents 

24 of Southeast Asian descent, many of whom initially 

25 arrived as child refugees, live in the United States 


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1 with a final order of removal. These individuals 

2 often do not speak the native language of that coun3 try, lack familial connections there, and are at risk 

4 of being targeted for human rights abuses as a re5 sult of historic support for United States anti-com6 munist policies. 

7 (12) The United States accepted thousands of 

8 Vietnamese refugees through the Orderly Departure 

9 Program, Humanitarian Resettlement program, and 

10 McCain Amendment through 2009, including sur11 vivors of re-education centers, former employees of 

12 the United States Government and United States 

13 companies or organizations, and immediate family 

14 members. 

15 (13) In 2002, the United States and Cambodia 

16 signed a bilateral repatriation agreement, hereafter 

17 known as the 2002 U.S.-Cambodia Repatriation 

18 Agreement. Deportations of Cambodian Americans 

19 to Cambodia increased by 366 percent the following 

20 year. Over 1,000 Cambodian Americans have been 

21 deported to Cambodia since then. 

22 (14) In 2008, the United States and Vietnam 

23 signed a bilateral repatriation agreement, hereafter 

24 known as the 2008 U.S.-Vietnam Memorandum of 

25 Understanding (MOU). According to section 2, artiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Aug 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5248.IH H5248

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1 cle 2 of the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU, ‘‘Vietnamese 

2 citizens are not subject to return to Vietnam under 

3 this Agreement if they arrived in the United States 

4 before July 12, 1995, the date on which diplomatic 

5 relations were re-established between the U.S. Gov6 ernment and the Vietnamese Government’’. Presi7 dent George W. Bush and President Barack Obama 

8 both recognized the 2008 United States-Vietnam 

9 MOU’s removal protections for pre-1995 refugees. 

10 (15) In 2020, President Trump’s administra11 tion entered into a new memorandum of under12 standing with Vietnam, expanding the categories of 

13 immigrants it could deport to include pre-95 Viet14 namese refugees who were previously protected from 

15 removal by the 2008 MOU. 

16 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON THE DETENTION AND REMOVAL OF 

17 NATIONALS OF CAMBODIA, LAOS, AND VIET18 NAM. 

19 (a) LIMITATION ON DETENTION AND REMOVAL.—An 

20 alien who is subject to a final order or removal may not 

21 be detained or removed from the United States on or after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act if the alien— 

23 (1) is a national of Cambodia, Laos, or Viet24 nam; 


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1 (2) entered the United States on or before Jan2 uary 1, 2008; and 

3 (3) has continuously resided in the United 

4 States since such entry. 

5 (b) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security shall authorize an alien described 

7 in subsection (a) to permanently engage in employment 

8 in the United States and provide such alien with an ‘‘em9 ployment authorized’’ endorsement or other appropriate 

10 work permit, which shall be valid for a period of 5 years, 

11 and may be renewed any number of times. 

12 (c) LIMITATION ON PERIODIC IDENTIFICATION.— 

13 Upon application to the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

14 an alien described in subsection (a) who is subject to an 

15 order of supervision under section 241(a)(3) of the Immi16 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(3)) shall 

17 not be required to appear in person before an immigration 

18 officer for periodic identification pursuant to such order 

19 of supervision. The Secretary shall, in lieu of such periodic 

20 identification, require such an alien to appear virtually be21 fore an immigration officer not more frequently than once 

22 every 5 years. 


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1 SEC. 4. RECONSIDERING AND REOPENING IMMIGRATION 

2 CASES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, the Attorney General— 

5 (1) shall grant a motion to reconsider or reopen 

6 proceedings pursuant to paragraph (6) or (7) of sec7 tion 240(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

8 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) with respect to any alien who— 

9 (A) on or after April 24, 1996 but before 

10 the date of enactment of this Act— 

11 (i) was ordered removed, deported, or 

12 excluded; or 

13 (ii) departed the United States pursu14 ant to a grant of voluntary departure 

15 under section 240B of the Immigration 

16 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c) (re17 gardless of whether or not the alien was 

18 ordered removed, deported, or excluded); 

19 and 

20 (B) is a national of Cambodia, Laos, or 

21 Vietnam; and 

22 (C) demonstrates that the alien would not 

23 have been subject to detention or removal pur24 suant to this Act if this Act had been in effect 

25 on the date on which such order was issued or 

26 the voluntary departure took place (except that 


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1 the requirement under section 3(a)(3) shall not 

2 apply); 

3 (2) shall terminate any removal proceedings re4 opened under paragraph (1) with prejudice and va5 cate any order of removal entered before the date of 

6 enactment of this Act; and 

7 (3) shall deem an alien who makes the dem8 onstration under paragraph (1)(C) as not having 

9 been removed, deported, excluded, or departed, and 

10 as not having failed to depart under a voluntary de11 parture order, for all purposes under the Immigra12 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

13 (b) PREVIOUSLY FILED APPLICATION; PREVIOUS

14 MOTIONS TO REOPEN OR RECONSIDER.—The Attorney 

15 General may not reject or deny a motion to reconsider or 

16 reopen under subsection (a) because— 

17 (1) the alien did not include a copy of any pre18 viously filed application for relief; or 

19 (2) the alien had previously filed a motion to 

20 reopen or reconsider. 

21 (c) DEADLINE.—The deadline described in para22 graphs (6)(B) and (7)(C)(i) of section 240(c) of the Immi23 grations and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) shall not 

24 apply to a motion to reopen or reconsider under this sec25 tion. 


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1 (d) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary of Homeland 

2 Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall 

3 provide transportation and travel documents for aliens eli4 gible for reopening or reconsideration of their proceedings 

5 under this section, at Government expense, to return to 

6 the United States for further immigration proceedings and 

7 shall admit or parole the alien into the United States. 

8 (e) PHYSICAL PRESENCE REQUIREMENT.—For the 

9 purpose of applications filed subsequent to reopening 

10 under this section pursuant to section 240A of the Immi11 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b), or any 

12 other application for relief under the immigration laws (as 

13 defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Na14 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), removal, deporta15 tion, exclusion, or voluntary departure shall not be consid16 ered to toll any physical presence requirement. 

17 (f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other 

18 provision of the Immigration and National Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101 et seq.), any denial of a motion to reopen or recon20 sider submitted pursuant to this section is subject to de 

21 novo judicial review in a Federal district court having ju22 risdiction over the applicant’s residence or, in the case of 

23 an applicant who was removed from the United States, 

24 the last known residential address of the applicant in the 

25 United States. 


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1 SEC. 5. NOTICE FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS OF CAMBODIA, 

2 LAOS, AND VIETNAM WITH REMOVAL OR3 DERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security shall— 

7 (1) provide notice of the provisions of this Act 

8 to each alien described in section 3(a); and 

9 (2) to the extent practicable, provide notice of 

10 the provisions of this Act to each alien described in 

11 section 4(a). 

12 (b) CONTENTS OF NOTICE.—The notice described in 

13 subsection (a) shall include information explaining the re14 quirements and instructions for filing a motion to recon15 sider and reopen removal proceedings under section 

16 240(c)(6) and (7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

17 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) and under section 4 of this Act. 

18 SEC. 6. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

19 (a) REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

20 of law, an individual or entity who has been harmed by 

21 a violation of this Act may file an action in an appropriate 

22 district court of the United States to seek declaratory or 

23 injunctive relief. 

24 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

25 may be construed to preclude an action filed pursuant to 

26 subsection (a) from proceeding as a class action (as such 


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1 term is defined in section 1711 of title 28, United States 

2 Code). 

Æ 


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