I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7608 
To halt removal of certain nationals of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
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 Wis-
consin, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SIMON, Mr. SMITH 
of Washington, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. VARGAS, 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) 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. 
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 ‘‘Southeast Asian De-
portation Relief Act of 2026’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Millions of Southeast Asian Americans live 
in the United States, including 2,182,735 Viet-
namese Americans, 338,637 Cambodian Americans, 
254,304 Laotian Americans, and 326,843 Hmong 
Americans, according to the 2019 American Com-
munity Survey. Many of these communities arrived 
as refugees beginning over 40 years ago from Cam-
bodia, 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 pre-
vent 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 Viet-
nam 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 expo-
sure to Agent Orange. The Central Intelligence 
Agency (CIA) and various agencies enlisted over 
30,000 soldiers from Hmong, Lao, and Laotian eth-
nic groups in Laos as allies to aid United States 
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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, Cam-
bodia, and Laos. Between 1975 to 2008, the United 
States Government resettled over 1,200,000 South-
east Asian refugees in this country, as part of the 
largest refugee resettlement effort in the history of 
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the United States. Southeast Asian refugees in-
cluded 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 mi-
nority groups persecuted in the aftermath of the 
war. 
(7) Many Southeast Asian refugees face signifi-
cant physical and mental health issues, such as post- 
traumatic stress disorder and depression, stemming 
from their experiences escaping war, genocide, tor-
ture, and mass starvation. Additionally, many 
Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in commu-
nities that were heavily disinvested and lacked long- 
term resettlement support, causing many Southeast 
Asians to also suffer from systemic poverty, dis-
crimination, 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 reset-
tlement can increase vulnerability to mental dis-
tress’’. First generation immigrants are especially 
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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-in-
come 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 Immi-
grant 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 consider-
ation of an individual’s lived circumstances. 
(11) Approximately 15,000 long-term residents 
of Southeast Asian descent, many of whom initially 
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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 coun-
try, lack familial connections there, and are at risk 
of being targeted for human rights abuses as a re-
sult of historic support for United States anti-com-
munist policies. 
(12) The United States accepted thousands of 
Vietnamese refugees through the Orderly Departure 
Program, Humanitarian Resettlement program, and 
McCain Amendment through 2009, including sur-
vivors 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 
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Understanding (MOU). According to section 2, arti-
cle 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. Gov-
ernment and the Vietnamese Government’’. Presi-
dent 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 administra-
tion entered into a new memorandum of under-
standing with Vietnam, expanding the categories of 
immigrants it could deport to include pre-95 Viet-
namese 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 VIET-
NAM. 
(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 Viet-
nam; 
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(2) entered the United States on or before Jan-
uary 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 ‘‘em-
ployment 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 Immi-
gration 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 be-
fore an immigration officer not more frequently than once 
every 5 years. 
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SEC. 4. RECONSIDERING AND REOPENING IMMIGRATION 
CASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the Attorney General— 
(1) shall grant a motion to reconsider or reopen 
proceedings pursuant to paragraph (6) or (7) of sec-
tion 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 pursu-
ant to a grant of voluntary departure 
under section 240B of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c) (re-
gardless 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 pur-
suant 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 
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the requirement under section 3(a)(3) shall not 
apply); 
(2) shall terminate any removal proceedings re-
opened under paragraph (1) with prejudice and va-
cate any order of removal entered before the date of 
enactment of this Act; and 
(3) shall deem an alien who makes the dem-
onstration under paragraph (1)(C) as not having 
been removed, deported, excluded, or departed, and 
as not having failed to depart under a voluntary de-
parture order, for all purposes under the Immigra-
tion 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 pre-
viously filed application for relief; or 
(2) the alien had previously filed a motion to 
reopen or reconsider. 
(c) DEADLINE.—The deadline described in para-
graphs (6)(B) and (7)(C)(i) of section 240(c) of the Immi-
grations and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)) shall not 
apply to a motion to reopen or reconsider under this sec-
tion. 
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(d) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall 
provide transportation and travel documents for aliens eli-
gible 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 Immi-
gration 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 Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))), removal, deporta-
tion, exclusion, or voluntary departure shall not be consid-
ered 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 recon-
sider submitted pursuant to this section is subject to de 
novo judicial review in a Federal district court having ju-
risdiction 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. 
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SEC. 5. NOTICE FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS OF CAMBODIA, 
LAOS, AND VIETNAM WITH REMOVAL OR-
DERS. 
(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 re-
quirements and instructions for filing a motion to recon-
sider 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 
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