Our systems must center transformative justice.
Southeast Asian refugees represent the largest refugee community ever to be resettled in the United States, after being forcefully displaced by US war and its aftermath in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in the 1970s. Refugees were often resettled in urban centers of concentrated poverty and violence with few social or economic supports. Youth experienced and are still at risk in the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline.
Our immigration policy advocacy is grounded in the principles of fairness, family, and second chances.
We fight to change outdated and unjust immigration laws that make Southeast Asian American families vulnerable to detention and deportation, push for gubernatorial clemencies so that community members may be protected from deportations and receive meaningful reentry support, and uphold civil rights in our incarceration and immigration systems.
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ACTION ALERT: Urge Your US Representative to Cosponsor the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act
Southeast Asian Americans must be able to live in safety with their families, and SEADRA is a crucial element of restoring humanity and compassion to our immigration system for impacted community members. To achieve that, we need your help to increase support for this bill in Congress.
Read full storyBy the Numbers
The approximate number of Southeast Asian Americans who have received final deportation orders
The approximate number of Vietnamese people waiting to be reunited with family due to the backlogged visa system
The percent increase of Cambodian Americans who were deported to Cambodia between 2017 and 2018
“I hope that one day I can live life freely, knowing that we are free from this, knowing that my husband will not be taken away by anyone in the future. That is probably the one thing that I wish and pray for now, is to get that feeling of freedom.”
shared in our Dreams Detained, in her Words report
“Even though I have opened businesses, gotten married, and become a father since I was released, the threat of deportation looms over my head every day. With the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act, my family and our community can finally have the chance to recover from our trauma and fully heal.”
impacted community member
“I have changed my life around. I have dedicated myself to my family and raising my children, always looking to give them a better life.”
impacted community member