The Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026 would halt the deportation of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese nationals who entered the United States on or before January 1, 2008, and have continuously resided here since then. The bill would authorize work permits for these individuals and reduce check-in requirements with immigration officials from in-person meetings to virtual appointments once every five years. Additionally, the legislation would allow the Attorney General to reopen and reconsider deportation cases for people from these three countries who were deported or left the country voluntarily since April 24, 1996, if they would have been protected under this law, with the government covering travel costs for those abroad to return for new proceedings. The bill is premised on Congress findings that the United States has historic responsibility toward these communities, including millions of Southeast Asian Americans who arrived as refugees following the Vietnam War and subsequent conflicts, and that overly broad 1990s immigration laws disproportionately ensnared Southeast Asian youth in the criminal justice system and created a deportation pipeline.
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