The latest updates and news on Dawn Michelle’s case, and the ongoing effort to bring her home.
As a pending summit meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping approaches this moment presents a critical opportunity to advocate for Americans detained in China.
We are confident President Trump will ask for Dawn Michelle’s and Nelson Wells Jr‘s humanitarian release
Stay updated with the latest news articles surrounding Dawn Michelle’s case and learn how you can help urge our Government to take action.
This week, Our family lost our father on January 25th 2026 – Gene Hunt. He passed away without ever seeing his daughter Dawn come home after more than 12 years of wrongful imprisonment in China. His greatest wish was her freedom-and that fight continues.
Stay updated with the latest news articles surrounding Dawn Michelle’s case and learn how you can help urge our Government to take action.
The case has been formally referred to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, with additional review by the Committee on the Judiciary. These committees are responsible for evaluating the relevant legal and human rights provisions tied to Dawn Michelle’s case.
This step means congressional review is actively underway, and the issue is now within the jurisdiction of key committees that oversee foreign policy, justice, and the protection of Americans abroad.
Three Americans’ recent release from Chinese imprisonment has been a blessing. But an estimated 200 to 300 Americans remain wrongfully detained by the PRC. Including Dawn Michelle and Nelson Wells Jr..
The brother of an American woman said to be wrongfully held in a Chinese prison for over a decade has a message for the federal government: “Don’t just talk about it, be about it.” Dawn Michelle Hunt has been in Guangdong Women’s Prison since her 2014 arrest for drug smuggling—a charge that she, her brother and father have consistently denied.
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC), together with members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), has introduced H.R. 5491 — The Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt Unjustly Detained in Communist China Act.
We hope other members of Congress will sign on as co-sponsors.
👉 Residents of Louisiana (Nelson’s home state) and Illinois (Dawn Michelle’s home state) are encouraged to contact their Representatives and request support for this bill.
While the immediate goal is a humanitarian release for Dawn Michelle and Nelson, this legislation also helps ensure other families never face similar hardship. The bill follows testimony from Tim Hunt and Nelson Wells Sr. before the CECC in Washington, D.C., last September.