Dear SEARAC community,
Each April, I think about what my parents left behind in Vietnam decades ago and what they carried forward with them.
It’s what so many Southeast Asian families took with them when they were forced to leave their homes during the fall of Saigon in Vietnam, the Secret War in Laos, and the Khmer Rouge’s genocide and violence in Cambodia. These are not distant histories. They continue to shape how our communities experience fear and displacement today.
In this moment, our communities are again facing real threats, from increased government violence against immigrants to attacks on education and public services. Escalated deportations also continue as its root causes — the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) — turn 30 this year.
And even in this hostile environment, communities are responding as we always have: organizing to keep each other safe. Around the country, community members are sharing Know Your Rights and bystander intervention resources, building neighborhood rapid response networks, raising emergency funds to support the families of those targeted, providing legal and social services, and holding space so no one has to navigate these challenges alone.
At SEARAC, we are meeting this moment with action. We are monitoring and pushing back against harmful policies, such as cuts to Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions and efforts to dismantle the Department of Education illegally. We continue to push for justice through defensive advocacy to undo the harms that AEDPA and IIRIRA have caused by supporting efforts to advance the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act and the New Way Forward. And we are also connecting leaders across the country and supporting the next generation of advocates, including students, who are pushing for change on their campuses and beyond.
As the United States marks 250 years of its existence, we also must ensure that our stories are recognized as part of this country’s history and its future as we’ve built new lives and communities in the face of adversity. We invite you to support a national resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of Southeast Asian American refugee resettlement. This resolution makes our communities visible. It creates momentum for the policies we need, including better data that reflects who we are and what our communities need to thrive.
Fifty years later, we are more than 3 million strong. Our communities are here because we turned trauma into strength.
April is a time to remember. It is also a time to move forward together. Join us in carrying the strength passed down from our elders, not just to endure, but to demand better.
In solidarity,
Quyên Đinh
SEARAC Executive Director
TAKE ACTION: Support SEARAC’s 50 to 250 campaign
Tell your member of Congress to cosponsor the national resolution commemorating 50 years of refugee resettlement!
Led by Rep. Derek Tran in the House and Sen. Mazie Hirono in the Senate, the national resolution lifts up the journeys that brought Southeast Asian refugees to the United States. It recognizes how our communities have helped shape this country and calls on the nation to expand opportunity for Southeast Asian Americans and for other immigrant and refugee communities.
- Send an email to your representative to support H.Res.948
- Send an email to your senator to support S.Res.542
If your representative is listed here and your senator is listed here as already cosponsoring the resolutions, please consider sending them a thank you email instead.
Take a few minutes to share your student story with members of Congress.
We are specifically seeking community testimonials from SEAA students, faculty, administrators, and/or parents, to demonstrate support for H. Res 948.
