; Whereas the War on Poverty, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, decreased resources for low-income, refugee, and immigrant communities to transform from generational poverty; Whereas, as survivors of war and genocide, Southeast Asian Americans still face disparate health outcomes, including higher rates of physical, mental, and chronic health challenges, including over 60 percent of Cambodians and a significant number of other Southeast Asian Americans who continue to experience post-traumatic stress disorder; Whereas, as children of the survivors of war and genocide, first and second generation Southeast Asian Americans have intergenerational, compounded trauma that has created poor mental health conditions and education barriers; Whereas the War on Drugs, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, expansion of the incarceration system, and over policing of low-income refugee communities resulted in a significant number of Southeast Asian Americans coming into contact with the criminal justice system; Whereas the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 expanded the definition of what type of crime could result in deportation and limited due process protections for immigrants, refugees, and other noncitizens; the Act also allowed the expanded definition to be applied retroactively without proper consideration of an individual’s lived circumstances; Whereas more than 15,000 Southeast Asian Americans, many of whom were refugees, live in the United States with a final order of removal and over 2,000 have been deported since 1998; Whereas many Southeast Asian Americans with a final order of removal are United States residents who are more than 10 years removed from the time of their criminal convictions and have moved on to become pillars of their communities, homeowners, fathers, mothers, caregivers, and tenured employees