I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7053 
To defer removal of certain nationals of Vietnam for a 24-month period, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2020 
Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CORREA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 
ROUDA, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To defer removal of certain nationals of Vietnam for a 24- 
month period, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honor Our Commit-
ment Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) From April–September 1975, the United 
States conducted Operation New Arrival to relocate 
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130,000 Vietnamese refugees to the United States 
following the end of the Vietnam War. 
(2) During this time, more than 50,000 Viet-
namese refugees were processed through Camp Pen-
dleton for Southern California. 
(3) In the 4 decades since refugees fled Viet-
nam, Vietnamese Americans have weaved their sto-
ries into the American fabric. 
(4) The biggest concentration of Vietnamese 
American is in Orange County, California, followed 
by San Jose (California), Houston (Texas), Seattle 
(Washington), Northern Virginia, and New Orleans 
(Louisiana). 
(5) According to the 2010 census, Vietnamese 
is the 6th most commonly spoken language in the 
United States. 
(6) Immigrant communities face significant 
problems 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 reset-
tlement can increase vulnerability to mental dis-
tress.’’. First generation immigrants are especially 
vulnerable to gang violence within communities in 
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which their parents cannot guide with cultural or po-
litical comfortability. 
(7) In 2008, the United States and Vietnam 
signed a bilateral repatriation agreement, hereafter 
known as the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU). 
(8) According to Section 2, Article 2 of the 
2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU, ‘‘Vietnamese citizens are 
not subject to return to Vietnam under this Agree-
ment 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. The U.S. Govern-
ment and the Vietnamese Government maintain 
their respective legal positions relative to Vietnamese 
citizens who departed Vietnam for the United States 
prior to that date’’. 
(9) The United States under President George 
Bush and President Barack Obama recognized the 
2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU’s protection for pre-1995 
refugees from deportation. 
(10) In 2019, President Trump’s Administra-
tion began to renegotiate the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. 
MOU to expand the categories of immigrants it 
could deport, including permanent residents who 
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have committed certain minor crimes and others who 
came to the United States as children after the Viet-
nam War. 
(11) In February 2018, Asian Americans Ad-
vancing Justice’s Asian Law Caucus in San Fran-
cisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta filed a class action 
lawsuit in the name of Orange County resident 
Hoang Trinh and six other refugees who all came to 
the U.S. before the 1995 date and became legal per-
manent residents. Due to criminal convictions, they 
all lost their green cards, making them subject to 
deportation. Under the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU, 
they should be protected from deportation. The refu-
gees were held in prolonged detention in violation of 
a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting 
overlong detention. 
(12) In August 2018, U.S. District Judge 
Cormac Carney ruled that the plaintiffs in the class 
action presented a plausible claim that the govern-
ment is now not abiding by a ‘‘longstanding practice 
of not removing pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants 
and by the 2008 diplomatic agreement.’’. 
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SEC. 3. DEFERRAL OF REMOVAL FOR NATIONALS OF VIET-
NAM WITH REMOVAL ORDERS. 
(a) DEFERRAL OF REMOVAL.—Except as provided in 
subsection (b), an alien may not be removed for the 24- 
month period beginning on the date of enactment of this 
Act if the alien— 
(1) is a national of Vietnam; 
(2) has been ordered removed to Vietnam at 
any time before the date of enactment of this Act; 
and 
(3) resided in the United States on or before 
July 12, 1995. 
(b) DEFERRAL
NOT
APPLICABLE
TO
CERTAIN 
ALIENS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to an alien if— 
(1) the Secretary of Homeland Security deter-
mines that the alien’s removal is necessary based 
upon credible facts that the alien is directly respon-
sible for specific and significant harm to the security 
of the United States; or 
(2) the alien is subject to extradition. 
(c) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—Upon applica-
tion to the Secretary of Homeland Security, an alien 
whose removal is deferred pursuant to this Act— 
(1) shall be authorized to engage in employ-
ment during the 24-month period described in sub-
section (a); and 
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