Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act of 2026

Summary

Prohibits the detention or removal of nationals of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who entered the United States on or before January 1, 2008 and have continuously lived here since then, and gives them indefinite work authorization. It also requires the government to reopen many prior removal orders for those nationalities, vacate earlier deportation orders, provide travel documents and transportation for return if requested, and lets affected people sue to enforce the law. The bill directs DHS and DOJ to notify eligible people, allow virtual check-ins instead of frequent in-person reporting, and create a process for judicial review of denials of reopening. It is focused on long-term Southeast Asian residents who arrived largely as refugees and addresses longstanding harms from wartime trauma and past immigration rules that increased deportability.

• Stops detention and deportation of Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese who entered by Jan 1, 2008 and have continuously resided in the U.S.
• Grants indefinite, renewable work authorization (5-year permits renewable without limit) to covered individuals.
• Requires reopening and vacatur of certain prior removal orders dating from April 24, 1996 onward if the person would have been protected by this law.
• Directs DHS and State to provide government-funded travel documents and transportation for eligible returnees and to admit or parole them when appropriate.
• Allows virtual supervision (no more often than once every five years) instead of frequent in-person check-ins for covered persons under supervision.
• Mandates DHS notice to eligible noncitizens within 60 days and creates a private right of action and class-action enforcement mechanism.
• Provides de novo federal district court review of denials of motions to reopen under the Act, with venue linked to the applicant's residence.
• Vacated prior removals are treated as never occurring for most immigration purposes, but do not automatically satisfy physical-presence requirements for other relief.