WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, reintroduced legislation, alongside several colleagues, to combat the threat of transnational repression within the United States by strengthening the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) response and coordination to these threats.

Chairman Pfluger introduced the Countering Transnational Repression Act of 2025, which would create a dedicated transnational repression office in DHS to ensure the federal government takes steps to recognize, assess, and counter threats from foreign authoritarian regimes or agents of a foreign government against American citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Transnational repression occurs when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Iranian regime, or other foreign actors extend their reach beyond their borders to silence Americans and dissidents through various tactics, such as harassment, assault, attempted kidnapping, intimidation, and coercion. 

Read Chairman Pfluger’s op-ed in the Washington Times here.

As our adversaries continue to grow increasingly aggressive, conducting transnational repression against dissidents or journalists within the United States, we must address these threats and protect those who speak out against tyranny and human rights abuses abroad,” said Chairman Pfluger. “The hostile acts we are seeing across the country are a direct challenge to our nation’s sovereignty and infringe upon Americans’ civil liberties. I am proud to reintroduce a vital piece of legislation today, the Countering Transnational Repression Act, that will combat these threats. I am also grateful to my colleagues, Congressmen Evans and Magaziner, for leading additional measures that will take significant steps in shining a light on these threats and empowering state and local law enforcement to identify this pernicious activity.

In addition to Chairman Pfluger's bill reintroduction today, other House Committee on Homeland Security members also reintroduced commonsense legislation to address this issue, including Rep. Gabe Evans and Rep. Seth Magaziner.

Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) reintroduced the Law Enforcement Support and Transnational Repression Hotline Act, which would help educate communities about transnational repression, increase visibility, and better connect victims with federal support through a hotline for this specific threat.

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) reintroduced the Strengthening State and Local Efforts to Counter Transnational Repression Act, which would require DHS to prioritize strengthening state and local law enforcement capabilities to counter transnational repression. 

In April 2024, all three of these bills were passed out of Committee.

Background:

The most recent example of transnational repression occurred on December 18, 2024, when Chen Jinping, a resident of New York City, pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an illegal agent for the PRC, in connection with opening and operating an undeclared overseas “police station” in lower Manhattan for the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security. 

In the 118th Congress, the Committee on Homeland Security led efforts to counter transnational repression on U.S. soil. In January 2024, the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence held a hearing to examine DHS’s role in combating transnational repression in the United States, in which members heard testimony from Dr. Bob Fu, a Chinese dissident and victim of heinous acts of transnational repression by the CCP. 

On October 25, 2023, the Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on the malign influence of the Iranian regime and its nefarious activities on U.S. soil in which Iranian-American journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad provided harrowing testimony of the human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime. This testimony informed the Committee’s work to craft and advance bipartisan legislation to ensure a whole-of-government response to acts of transnational repression on U.S. soil. Read her op-ed in the National Review here.

In April 2023, Chairman Pfluger and Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) sent a letter to then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray requesting information on the CCP’s “police stations” uncovered in New York City and reportedly elsewhere in the country, which violate our nation’s sovereignty by suppressing Chinese dissidents living in the U.S., conducting surveillance, and spreading CCP propaganda.

In August 2024, Chairmen Pfluger and Green sent a letter to Director Wray requesting information about the arrest and charging of Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran, regarding a failed assassination plot by Merchant on U.S. soil. 

From February 2021 to October 2024, there have been over 55 CCP-related espionage cases in 20 states, including the execution of transnational repression schemes and the obstruction of justice. According to Freedom House, the CCP is a top perpetrator of transnational repression in the world to silence dissidents critical of the regime.