Lawmakers introduce new bill to end deportation of Southeast Asian refugees

In a win for immigration advocates nationwide, lawmakers in Congress introduced a bill Tuesday that if passed would work towards keeping Southeast Asian refugee families together. According to NBC News, the bill, which is called the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act, would place limitations on the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to deport refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. The bill would significantly impact an estimated 15,000 refugees.

Quyen Dinh, executive director of the organization Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), told NBC News that the legislation would be a way for the U.S. to honor its “unique responsibility to stay accountable to the trauma that had been created.” She noted that refugees who commit crimes are often penalized with a sentence and order of removal, something activists refer to as “double jeopardy.”