Washington, DC – SEARAC denounces the House’s passage of anti-democratic legislation that would give the executive branch of government unchecked power to effectively shut down nonprofits it arbitrarily and unilaterally designates as terrorist-supporting organizations.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495) is a dangerous threat to nonprofit organizations like those representing Southeast Asian American refugee communities, many of which provide critical social services, advocacy, and assistance. In particular, authorizing the US Treasury Secretary to make decisions based on any suspected wrongdoing poses significant risks of abuse, discrimination, and politicized targeting and retaliation.
SEARAC Executive Director Quyên Đinh adds:
“History has shown us injustice can occur under the guise of ‘national security.’ For example, the United States had once designated Hmong and other Southeast Asian refugees who served as US allies during the Secret War in Laos and during the Vietnam War as ‘terrorists’ under the Patriot Act. If such gross misrepresentation were to happen again on top of H.R. 9495, our community organizations would be severely harmed. Many in our Southeast Asian American communities are still healing from the trauma of fleeing our homes due to political persecution; this bill opens fresh wounds,creating a climate of fear and censorship that violates our First Amendment rights.”
SEARAC urges the Senate to reject this bill.