The Senate will likely pass a bipartisan bill that supports Hongkongers seeking refuge in the United States by the end of this year, said democrat Richard Blumenthal at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.

The Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act, which was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives earlier last week, would guarantee protection to residents of Hong Kong facing and fleeing political persecution from China.

Testifying alongside activist Joey Siu and former lawmaker Nathan Law in exile, Samuel Chu of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council said he has become a wanted criminal for “colluding with foreign forces” since Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong earlier this year.

“Hong Kong has fallen,” Chu continued. “It’s gone from being the freest city in China to a quasi-police state where someone like Jimmy Lai can be charged a crime for simply following the Taiwanese president on Twitter.”

Chu also noted that the U.S. refugee and asylum status would give over 10,000 protesters arrested during last year’s pro-democracy movement the much-needed protection from Beijing’s increasing crackdown.

Law, who went into exile after the national security law was enforced, urged the U.S. Senate to pass the bill and take up a leading role in resisting the expansion of power of China.

“Thousands of young people can be saved from political persecution and live free from the threat of the Chinese Communist party,” the 27-year-old appealed.

The bill suggests the U.S. to provide temporary protected status for Hongkongers who have a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of their political participation, as well as expediting the processing of their refugee and asylum applications.

It needs to be passed by both houses and signed by the U.S. president to become law before the Senate adjourns the current legislative session.

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