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For Immediate Release
ICE Is Targeting Bhutanese Americans Who Faced Ethnic Cleansing–
Communities and Electeds Must Speak Out
Release date: March 31, 2025
Asian Refugees United (ARU) and the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community express deep concern about the deportation of at least 12 community members to Bhutan (via India) between March 26th and 29th, 2025. These individuals, refugees who fled persecution and rebuilt their lives in the U.S. – some for over a decade – now face renewed uncertainty and potential danger after being forcibly removed from their homes and families by U.S. immigration authorities. Following deportation to Bhutan, at least three were rejected by Bhutan and expelled to India and then to Nepal, where they are now in Nepal police custody, leaving them effectively stateless. The whereabouts, well-being, and safety of the remaining deportees remain unknown.
This action is part of a larger enforcement operation that has targeted at least 30 members of the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese American community, sparking fear throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, New York, and other states. During these operations, people have been taken from their homes, places of work, and even court appearances. In almost all cases, those targeted have lacked legal representation and access to counsel, raising serious due process concerns.
These concerns have been raised by community leaders, civil rights advocates, and elected officials. ICE's justification for these actions is unclear, and there have been no transparent or clearly explained reasons. However, the fact remains that so many are being rounded up with no justification. ICE has not explained the arrests.
Asian Refugees United and the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese Americans are worried for our communities, our families, our neighbors, and our future.
Who is the community being targeted? As ethnic Nepali refugees from Bhutan (locally referred to in Bhutan as Lhotsampas), we were stripped of our citizenship and expelled during a campaign of state-led ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. After decades in refugee camps in Nepal, nearly 90,000 of us resettled in the United States starting in 2008, built roots in communities across more than 40 states, obtained lawful permanent resident status or citizenship, cultivated work, attended schools, supported businesses, and raised families. However, this recent wave of ICE enforcement echoes our history of displacement and trauma, devastating families and communities that worked hard to rebuild their lives in America.
At least 30 people targeted and arrested: The U.S. government’s widespread arrest and detention of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese Americans began to escalate in early March 2025, leading to the disappearance of several dozen community members across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, New York, and other states across the country. After speaking with detained individuals and their loved ones, we know that ICE has targeted and arrested over 30 community members in March 2025 alone. Among the disappeared are dedicated heads of their household, promising young people, respected elders, cherished friends, spouses, parents, and caregivers.
Legal concerns: People were taken from their homes, places of work, and at their court appearances, and it is unclear whether constitutional protections and procedures–including the use of lawful warrants when required–were followed. Most of the arrested and detained community members did not have legal representation during their immigration proceedings, and several were quickly moved to different prison facilities before they could speak to or obtain an attorney. Concerns over their safety and questions of due process have been echoed by civil rights advocates, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas, and community leaders. However, ICE has not explained the arrests, despite public concern and calls for information from officials.
How federal agents arrived: On at least one occasion, authorities arrived at a community member's doorstep, knocking and banging on the door with urgency at 6 AM, intending to arrest someone with a similar name. The family was subjected to aggressive questioning, leaving them feeling deeply frightened, including the young children. The trauma was so profound, and the child was so deeply shaken that they were unable to attend school that day. Though the exact identity of the officers remains unclear—whether they were ICE agents or police—what remains indisputable is the alarming presence of four to five vehicles outside their home, further heightening the tension and uncertainty in the household, and across the broader community. The family is left to grapple with the emotional aftermath of this unsettling encounter.
What happened to the 12 people deported and left stateless? Between March 26th and March 29th, 2025, at least 12 detained individuals from our community were deported from the United States to Bhutan via India. This hazardous and confusing journey led the deported people through Bhutan, India, and Nepal. All of these countries refused to welcome the deportees or guarantee their safety. They have become tangled up in geo-national politics. At least three of the deportees were rejected and expelled from Bhutan into Nepal, then forced into Nepal police custody after they arrived at a refugee camp. Other deported individuals are missing, and their location, well-being, and safety are unknown.
Ongoing human and international rights violations remain a grave concern, especially because deportation to India, Bhutan, or Nepal threatens to leave members of this U.S. refugee community stateless and in serious danger. This is a repeated history of forced displacement and trauma that the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people are currently facing! The disappearance of our people contradicts decades of U.S. and international refugee law and policy, including the Refugee Act of 1980, the Convention Against Torture, and global commitments against forcing refugees to return to places where they face persecution.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman: "It's unacceptable that these Pennsylvanians who fled Bhutan for their lives, after being forced out by a brutal regime, are now being deported to the same country that tried to erase them. These are people who fled persecution, built lives and families in America, and have strengthened our communities for decades. For the Trump administration to ship them back into danger is a moral and legal failure. I condemn any policy or rhetoric that fuels this kind of injustice, and my office is in touch with local leaders and doing what we can to help the families impacted."
Resources and How You Can Support
Know Your Rights Guide (Nepali)
Check out our Frequently Asked Questions (below)
Bhutanese Refugee Rights is a clearinghouse website for news, updates, and statements related to Bhutanese American refugee rights.
Amplify the news about unjust treatment and deportation of the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community members. Share this campaign with your community!
Call members of Congress and your local elected officials: Ask them to stand in solidarity with Nepali-speaking Bhutanese and ask them to oppose the unjust arrest, detention, and deportation of our community members. To find your representative, click here.
Connect us to pro bono or low-cost immigration lawyers to represent community members
Connect us to the media, we want to share what is happening to our community!
Donate to our legal and mutual aid fund and support building safety plans with and for impacted families. Select “Pennsylvania Youth Center” in the “Program Designation.” Checks can be payable to “Asian Refugees United” with “PA Youth Center” in the memo and mailed to: Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality (AACRE), 17 Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco, CA 94108.
Asian American for Civil Rights & Equality's Community Defense Action Toolkit
Pennsylvania State Senator Patty Kim: "Our neighbors in the Bhutanese community moved to the United States 35 years ago to escape ethnic cleansing and unimaginable persecution. Many spent years, if not decades, in refugee camps fueled through adversity by their desire for a better life and an unwavering belief in the American promise - a promise of freedom, liberty, opportunity, and the reverence for individual rights. All are values meant to protect Americans from despotic urges and political demagoguery. Legally vetted and approved for refugee status by the United States government, they followed a legal process to establish roots in our community and contribute to the 15th district as legal residents. It's an honor to recognize the Bhutanese men, women, and children who consider Dauphin County home. The fact that some of our Bhutanese neighbors have been unjustly deported with no evidence of due process or adherence to previous legal process is unacceptable. I condemn any violation that does not honor and ensure a fair and honest judicial process for constituents throughout the 15th district, including the immigrant community. I am the product of an immigrant family who pursued the very same promise of the American Dream. I can only wonder, if we sit idly by, who's next? There is a saying that 'Democracy dies in darkness.' It is our responsibility, and yours, to shine a light on the plight of the Bhutanese community I am proud to serve. The American Promise could depend on it."
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, on March 26, 2025, expressed concern about deportations of community members: “They’ve been an important part of the social fabric, and the economic fabric, the educational fabric, the cultural fabric of our communities. I want to make sure that anyone who has been rounded up by the federal government is given their full due process. I expect the Trump administration to honor the law, to respect the law, and ensure those they’ve come in contact with receive due process.”
Suraj Budathoki, a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives: “The deported Bhutanese Americans are trapped in a stateless limbo between four countries: the United States, India, Nepal, and Bhutan. We need to ensure that the deported men have a safe place to go, and there has been no such assurance from any of these countries, despite clear life-threatening circumstances. As members of a refugee community who have been pushed from country to country, they’re deeply vulnerable to getting lost in the cracks, as all of these governments try to avoid responsibility.”
Ohio City Council member Bhuwan Pyakurel: "This crisis echoes the pain of too many immigrant and refugee communities today, with families ripped apart by a system that is failing to give folks a fair chance to understand what is happening and where their loved ones are being taken to. For our Nepali-speaking Bhutanese American community, it brings back the familiar cycle of isolation and trauma we were forced to endure before."
How is this affecting the community? The arrest, incarceration, deportation, and violation of civil and human rights of loved ones have shaken and left our communities in deep fear in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and cities across the U.S. and the world. Until these attacks cease, ongoing fear and anxiety will only grow. Additionally, the impacts of family separation, both for community members who remain detained as well as those who have been deported, mean a multitude of emotional, psychological, and economic harms. Most of our deported and detained community members are the economic anchors of their families, leaving loved ones to scramble with day-to-day needs, childcare, and more.
Let us be clear:
We reject attempts to criminalize or target our community–whether refugees, green card holders, recent arrivals, or anyone navigating this broken immigration system.
We need transparency and accountability from U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security, and the legal system. This includes the opportunity to know and exercise our rights, along with access to legal counsel, fair proceedings, the right to appeal, and due process for arrested and detained loved ones.
We call on friends and elected officials at all levels to stand with us and take action to demand accountability from ICE and ensure the safety of our immigrant and refugee communities.
We call on officials to ensure the safety of our detained community members in the United States and abroad—including our deported community members facing persecution, expulsion, and statelessness because of their refugee identity.
We have already survived multiple waves of forced displacement. We refuse to live in fear and limbo again. This is our home. We belong here. Our community is resilient—WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING SIMPLY TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY.
We are Nepali-speaking Bhutanese Americans. We belong here.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Isn’t Bhutan known as the “happiest place on earth?”
The Bhutanese government has professed to the world that they are “the kingdom of happiness” since they focus on gross national happiness instead of gross national product. However, hidden behind this political campaign lies a history of ethnic cleansing targeting the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese. Between 1989 and 1996, more than 100,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, also known as Lhotsampas, were forcibly expelled from their homes and country in Bhutan and forced to live in refugee camps in Nepal for 15+ years.
Refugees are people who have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country. They often have had to flee with little more than the clothes on their back, leaving behind homes, possessions, jobs, and loved ones. Refugees are defined and protected in international law. The 1951 Refugee Convention is a key legal document that defines a refugee as: “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”
3. What is the Refugee 3rd Country Resettlement Program?
The Refugee 3rd Country Resettlement Program is one of the 3 lasting solutions to refugees in limbo. When displaced refugees are no longer able to repatriate back to their country of origin due to conflict or fear of persecution or resettlement in the host country, the UNHCR then adopts a 3rd country resettlement option.
In the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community’s case, after multiple failed bilateral and multilateral national and international talks to repatriate the community back to Bhutan or have a permanent solution for the refugees in Nepal, the UNHCR and 7 countries around the world, including the US, decided to resettle the refugees through the third country resettlement program. This was after 15+ years of living in limbo without citizenship, rights, or a state. In 2007, the total number of Bhutanese refugees in the 7 refugee camps had reached around 108,000, and by 2015, less than 18,000 were in the remaining 2 Bhutanese refugee camps. The US brought over more than 75,000 Bhutanese refugees and resettled them all over the US.
4. Who are the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese Americans?
The Nepali-speaking Bhutanese Americans are an ethnic Nepali group who lived in Bhutan for generations. In the 1990s, Bhutan’s Buddhist-majority government targeted the community due to their Hindu faith and ethnic background, resulting in violence and persecution. Over 100,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were forced to flee Bhutan and seek refuge in refugee camps in Eastern Nepal with the support of UNHCR, the Red Cross Society, and many other international refugee support agencies. After spending around two decades living in camps, approximately 85,000 Bhutanese refugees ultimately resettled in the U.S., according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, with many settling in communities like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and New Hampshire.
Further reference:
Oxford Academic: Transitions without Justice: Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal
PennLive: Harrisburg’s growing population of Bhutanese refugees is among largest in U.S.
5. Where do community members live?
Many of us spent our childhoods in one of seven refugee camps–and our elders have memories of Bhutan before our mass expulsion– but in America, we've finally found a place to call Home. We're proud of building vibrant communities in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and New Hampshire, where we can share our food, businesses, and cultural traditions with our neighbors. Around the world, members of our refugee community live in various countries, with an estimated 8,000 remaining in Nepal, predominantly in refugee camps.
6. Why were some members of our community detained by ICE?
ICE has not explained the arrests, despite public concern and calls for information from officials like Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro, community leaders, and family members. We are demanding transparency and legal access for the detained. Some cases may involve reinterpreting past paperwork or status — but we don’t know for sure.
7. Were the people detained undocumented?
Many were green card holders. But our support extends to everyone, no matter their status. No one should be taken without cause or communication.
8. What should people do if ICE contacts them?
Do not open the door without a signed warrant. Ask for paperwork. Do not sign anything without legal help. Contact an immigration lawyer or a trusted group. For more information and resources on your legal rights at home, at work, and more, visit www.asianlawcaucus.org/news-resources/guides-reports/know-your-rights-guide-for-immigrant-communities-in-2025.
Asian Refugees United has a Know Your Rights guide available in Nepali here.
9. How can you, allies, and elected officials help?
Amplify the unjust treatment and deportation of the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community members.
Call members of Congress and your local elected officials: Ask them to stand in solidarity with Nepali-speaking Bhutanese and ask them to oppose the unjust arrest, detention, and deportation of our community members. To find your representative, click here.
Provide resources:
Connect us to pro bono or low-cost immigration lawyers to represent community members
Connect us to the media; we want to share what is happening to our community!
Donate to support building safety plans with and for impacted families. Select “Pennsylvania Youth Center” in the “Program Designation.” Checks can be payable to “Asian Refugees United” with “PA Youth Center” in the memo and mailed to: Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality (AACRE), 17 Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco, CA 94108.
10. How else can people help?
Our community faced ethnic cleansing in Bhutan, and some of our elders are feeling the same fears again. This is a good time to check in on neighbors, share trustworthy information, and be kind to one another. Remember, we are not alone.
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