A bill focusing on coercive tactics used by repressive foreign governments to silence political dissention has passed out of the House Homeland Security Committee, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) said.
The Strengthening State and Local Efforts to Combat Transnational Repression Act, introduced by Magaziner, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, would require the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a transnational repression threat training program for state, local, Tribal, campus and territorial law enforcement. The specialized training will help those offices and officers counter the threat of transnational repression and protect individuals looking for refuge from authoritarian regimes.
“Free speech is a fundamental American value, and people who come to the United States to escape repression should be able to speak out without fear,” Magaziner said. “But too often, dissidents and journalists are harassed or threatened by foreign governments—even after they’ve found safety on our shores. That’s why I introduced this bipartisan bill, which just passed the full Homeland Security Committee, to ensure local law enforcement has the tools to identify and investigate transnational repression in communities across the country.”
The bill was passed as part of a group of bills aimed at combating transnational repression that also included the Countering Transnational Repress Act of 2025, sponsored by U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) and the Law Enforcement Support and Counter Transnational Repression Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO).
About 25 percent of the world’s governments have reached beyond their borders to forcibly silence political dissidents, according to data by Freedom House, including the governments of Russia, Cambodia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkey, and China. In 2023, Freedom House reported 125 incidents of physical transnational repression including assassinations, abductions, assaults, detentions, and unlawful deportations.