I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6034 
To defer the removal of individuals to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic 
for a 72-month period, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2020 
Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. KIND, Mr. COSTA, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mr. POCAN, and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To defer the removal of individuals to the Lao People’s 
Democratic Republic for a 72-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 ‘‘Hmong and Lao Ref-
ugee Deportation Prohibition Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Since 1975, nearly 200,000 refugees from 
the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao P.D.R), 
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including persons of Hmong, Lao, Khmu, and Mien 
or Yao descent, have resettled in the U.S. as perma-
nent residents or become citizens. 
(2) Beginning in the 1950s in Laos, Hmong 
soldiers fought the Communist Pathet Lao move-
ment, and many Hmong and Lao later assisted U.S. 
forces during the Vietnam War. 
(3) The House Judiciary Committee reported in 
2000, ‘‘At great personal peril and loss of life, the 
Hmong fought with American forces and performed 
critical roles in dangerous missions.’’. 
(4) A former CIA officer stated to the Sub-
committee 
on 
Immigration 
and 
Claims 
that, 
‘‘[t]hroughout the war, CIA’s paramilitary forces 
collected intelligence, used it in combat operations to 
tie down some 50,000 North Vietnamese forces in 
Laos, rescued downed American pilots and protected 
sensitive American installations at remote mountain 
tops . . .’’. 
(5) Public Law 106–207, the Hmong Veterans 
Naturalization Act of 2000, provided thousands of 
Hmong refugees resettled to the U.S. who served 
with a special guerrilla unit, or irregular forces, op-
erating from a base in Laos in support of the United 
States military at any time during the period begin-
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ning February 28, 1961, and ending September 18, 
1978, with exemptions from certain provisions of the 
Immigration and Naturalization Act. 
(6) In 2000, it was reported by the House Judi-
ciary Committee in Report 106–563 that ‘‘many 
Hmong refugees have found it difficult to naturalize 
because of a difficulty learning English. This is due 
to the facts that they came from a tribal society 
without a written language until recent decades and 
that many Hmong were recruited to be guerrillas at 
the age of 12–14 and hence did not attend school.’’. 
(7) Scholars argue that the U.S. insufficiently 
resettled refugees from Laos leaving many ill-pre-
pared for immediate work, unacculturated, and suf-
fering psychosocial trauma resulting in cycles of pov-
erty. In 2016, 37.8 percent of Hmong and 18.5 per-
cent of Lao in the U.S. were living in poverty. 
(8) There are currently over 4,700 long-time 
U.S. residents of Hmong, Lao, Khmu, and Mien or 
Yao descent with Final Orders for Removal who 
were born in the Lao P.D.R., fled persecution in 
Laos, were resettled in the U.S. as refugees, and 
now face deportation to Laos due to past criminal 
convictions. 
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(9) Individuals with Final Orders for Removal 
who could be deported to the Lao P.D.R. often do 
not speak the Lao language, lack familial connec-
tions, and are at risk of being a target for human 
rights abuses as a result of historic support for U.S. 
anti-communist policies. 
(10) A 2018 Department of State Laos Human 
Rights Report acknowledges the long record of 
human rights abuses in the Lao P.D.R. The report 
states, ‘‘The government neither prosecuted nor 
punished officials who committed abuses, and police 
and security forces committed human rights abuses 
with impunity.’’. 
(11) The Lao P.D.R. is a communist state that 
does not currently have an official deportation agree-
ment with the U.S. and there is no extradition trea-
ty between Laos and the U.S. 
(12) Many of the over 4,700 persons with Final 
Orders of Removal who are at risk of deportation to 
the Lao P.D.R. have not been able to seek adequate 
immigration relief based on the complexity of the re-
quired legal filings and the backlogs in immigration 
courts. It can take several years for an individual to 
seek to reopen their immigration case and have their 
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eligibility for immigration relief decided on the mer-
its. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that— 
(1) individuals of Hmong, Lao, Khmu, and 
Mien or Yao descent who arrived in the U.S. as ref-
ugees fleeing persecution in the Lao People’s Demo-
cratic Republic shall not be deported to Laos for a 
period of 72 months; and 
(2) the Trump administration’s efforts to de-
port more than 4,700 individuals of Hmong, Lao, 
Khmu, and Mien or Yao descent residing in the U.S. 
to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic puts these 
individuals at grave risk, is unnecessary to ensure 
public safety, and cruelly inflicts trauma and harm 
on Hmong-American and Lao-American families and 
communities that are making significant contribu-
tions to the strength and success of the U.S. 
SEC. 4. DEFERRAL OF REMOVAL TO THE LAO PEOPLE’S 
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC FOR INDIVIDUALS 
WITH REMOVAL ORDERS. 
(a) DEFERRAL OF REMOVAL.—An alien may not be 
removed for the 72-month period beginning on the date 
of enactment of this Act if the alien— 
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(1) is an individual born in the Lao People’s 
Democratic Republic or colonial French administra-
tion of the present-day Lao People’s Democratic Re-
public; 
(2) has been ordered removed to Lao People’s 
Democratic Republic at any time before the date of 
enactment of this Act; and 
(3) resided in the United States on or before 
January 1, 2011. 
(b) 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 72-month period described in sub-
section (a); and 
(2) shall be issued an employment authorization 
document that remains valid for 24 months subject 
to renewal. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall take the necessary steps to implement— 
(1) the deferral of removal authorized under 
this section; and 
(2) the authorization of employment described 
in subsection (b). 
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SEC. 5. NOTICE FOR CERTAIN ALIENS WITH REMOVAL OR-
DERS TO THE LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC 
REPUBLIC. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall provide notice of the provisions of this Act 
to each alien who— 
(1) is an individual born in the Lao People’s 
Democratic Republic or colonial French administra-
tion of the present-day Lao People’s Democratic Re-
public; and 
(2) has a final order of removal. 
(b) CONTENTS
OF NOTICE.—The notice required 
under subsection (a) shall include clear instructions ex-
plaining the requirements for an alien to file a motion to 
reopen a proceeding under section 240 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) based on changed 
country conditions. 
SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON DETENTION. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security may not detain 
an alien whose removal is deferred pursuant to this Act 
on the basis of the alien’s immigration status in the 
United States or as a result of a motion filed by the alien 
to reopen a proceeding under section 240 of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a). 
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