Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act

Summary#

This bill, the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026, would stop the detention and removal of noncitizens who are nationals of Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam if they entered the United States on or before January 1, 2008 and have lived here continuously since that entry. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would have to give these people work authorization endorsements valid for five years that can be renewed any number of times. People subject to certain supervision orders would not have to appear in person for periodic check-ins more often than once every five years and could appear virtually.

The bill also requires the Attorney General to grant motions to reopen or reconsider removal cases for nationals of Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam who were ordered removed, deported, excluded, or departed with voluntary departure on or after April 24, 1996 and before the bill’s enactment date, if they show they would have been protected under this Act. The Attorney General must vacate prior removal orders in those reopened cases and treat affected people as not having been removed or deported for immigration purposes. DHS, working with the State Department, must provide travel documents and government-paid transportation to bring eligible people back to the United States for proceedings and admit or parole them. The bill requires DHS to notify eligible individuals about the new rules and how to file motions to reopen.

The bill includes findings that describe U.S. historical involvement in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, the large number of Southeast Asian refugees resettled in the United States, and long-term community harms such as trauma, poverty, and a deportation pipeline affecting Southeast Asian Americans.

What it means for you#

• If you are a national of Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam who entered the U.S. on or before January 1, 2008 and have lived here continuously, you could not be detained or removed under this Act. You would be eligible for a renewable work authorization valid for five years.
• If you were ordered removed, deported, excluded, or left under voluntary departure between April 24, 1996 and the bill’s enactment date and are a national of Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam, you may file a motion to reopen or reconsider your case. If you meet the bill’s test, your prior removal order would be vacated and treated as if it did not occur.
• DHS must notify people it can identify about these rights and how to file to reopen cases.

Expenses#

• The bill requires DHS, in coordination with the State Department, to provide travel documents and government-paid transportation for eligible people to return to the United States for reopened proceedings. This is an explicit government expense.
• The bill does not include an overall cost estimate or other specific funding figures. No publicly available information on total expected costs is included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

• The bill’s findings and text show supporters want to protect long-term Southeast Asian residents who came as refugees or settlers and who face deportation. It frames the measure as responding to historical U.S. involvement in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and to harms faced by those communities, including trauma and barriers to integration. Supporters see reopening past cases, stopping removals for specified long-term residents, and providing work authorization and notice as remedies.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.