SEARAC is a national civil rights organization that empowers Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese American communities to create a socially just and equitable society. As representatives of the largest refugee community ever resettled in the United States, SEARAC stands together with other refugee communities, communities of color, and social justice movements in pursuit of social equity.
We were founded in 1979 as the Indochina Refugee Action Center (IRAC) to facilitate the relocation of Southeast Asian refugees into American society and foster the development of nonprofit organizations led by and for Southeast Asian Americans.
Today, SEARAC advocates at the highest levels of national and California state government to call for justice and equity for Southeast Asian American communities, as well as all immigrants and communities of color. We invest in building powerful individual advocates and resilient community-based organizations who fight collectively for our community’s needs and uplift our strengths.