FRESNO, Calif. — It’s an endless process of waiting, of not knowing why or how, but that’s often the way it is, applying for U.S. citizenship. Many can relate, but in particular, the situation has become tenuous for the 4,000 Hmong with backlogged applications.
During the Vietnam War, the United States recruited more than 40,000 Hmong men in Laos to fight communism on behalf of the American government in a covert operation known as the Secret War.
They rescued American pilots who had been shot down, guarded the Ho Chi Minh trail, gathered intelligence, provided information about the landscape and suffered enormous casualties, dying at a ratio of 10 to one in comparison to their American allies.
Hundreds of thousands of Hmong immigrated to the United States in the decades following the Vietnam War, but it was not until December 2003 that the State Department made the decision to resettle 15,000 Hmong refugees — my grandparents among them — from Wat Tham Krabok, one of the last Hmong refugee camps in Thailand, to the United States.
But decades after assisting the United States under the principles of democracy and freedom, many Hmong may be stranded without the opportunity to obtain full citizenship.
The broad provisions of the Real ID Act, signed into law by President Bush in 2005 as an attachment to the Patriot Act, affirm that groups of two or more individuals who have taken up arms against a government will be deemed a “terrorist organization,” and are therefore prevented from gaining full citizenship or refugee status even while facing possible deportation.
Anyone who provided “material support,” meaning food, shelter, money or any related assistance to a “terrorist” group, faces equal risk as well.
The Hmong who fought alongside the Americans in Laos are considered terrorists under this definiton and are therefore ineligible for asylum or green cards.
My grandparents recently resettled in the United States from Thailand, but my grandfather does not have full citizenship.
It has been over a year since he applied for a green card. He currently works part-time in an entry-level position for an electrical company and is learning English as fast as he can.
He is trying to assimilate into this new culture, taking ESL classes, working and paying taxes.
Yet, he has not received an answer as to why his green card application has been backlogged while everyone else in the family has received theirs.
Many Hmong would like to think that the U.S. government did not intend to apply the Real ID provisions to the Hmong community, especially since Hmong soldiers took up arms on behalf of this country; since thousands of Hmong soldiers died to save American lives; and since the United States deserted the war in 1975, leaving thousands to fend for themselves against increasing communist attacks. Young Hmong Americans have a civic responsibility to speak up for the Hmong community. A group of 11 from Fresno recently carried this history and these stories to Washington in meetings with the offices of legislators.
In these meetings, the stories and struggles of parents, elders and recent refugees, all back home thousands of miles away, resonated heavily, and some participants could not hold back their emotion.
Our government is responsible for ensuring democracy for everyone, especially for these Hmong who now struggle to become active citizens. Relief may be near if the Foreign Operations Bill passes this fall with its provision that would exempt the Hmong from the Real ID Act.
American citizens, young Hmong Americans and other communities, should challenge themselves to be critical of how legislation affects the history of immigrants in this country — and especially of how this history is coming back to impact many families today.
Article by Sandy Cha, as told to Mai Der Vang, a youth media coordinator in Fresno.
I thought that had been settled or has the bill only made it through the senate? I think the hmong are entitled to become citizens
I think a bill passed that corrected that label for the hmong
FYI: MATERIAL SUPPORT UPDATE provided by The Hmong National Development’s News Flash for the week of October 01, 2007
.
“What is Material Support? Due to provisions containing broad definitions of “terrorist activity” and “terrorism” in the Patriot Act of 2001 and the REAL ID Act of 2005, the activities of Hmong and Montagnards who fought alongside the U.S. during the Secret War in Laos and the Vietnam War unintentionally fell under these broad definitions. The material support bar impacts individuals who have provided “material support,” such as food, water, shelter, money, and etc. to individuals who are classified as “terrorists”. Material support is an issue that affects not only the Hmong and Montagnards, but thousands of refugees and asylum seekers from all around the world.
Current Legislation and Next Steps: Language addressing the material support issue for the Hmong and Montagnards (and other refugee groups) was recently passed in the Senate as an amendment to the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. What next? Within the next few weeks, the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill will go to conference, where a number of selected Senators and Representatives will convene to work out the differences in the House and Senate versions of this bill. Once the bill is finalized and agreed on, it may be sent to the president to be signed into law. The President has threatened to veto the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill due to issues unrelated to material support. Misperceptions about Material Support: While we are excited about the passage of material support language, it does NOT mean that there isn’t more to be done! The language still has to go through conference, during which it could possibly be changed and there is still a threat of the President vetoing the bill. Many in the community perceive that if and when the material support issue is resolved, this will automatically allow thousands of Hmong refugees from Laos and Thailand to resettle in the U.S. While resolving material support issues for the Hmong would take care of a huge barrier, the refugee issues of the Hmong in Laos and Thailand are very complex and it’s resolution WILL NOT “open the floodgates” for Hmong to resettle in the U.S. This update was adapted from the Material Support Community Update Call hosted by Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and Hmong National Development (HND) on Friday, September 14, 2007.
For more information, please contact Srida Moua, Policy Advocate, at (202) 463-2118 or smoua@hndinc.org. You may also contact Helly Lee, Advocacy Initiative Director, at (202) 667-4690 or helly@searac.org. To receive further updates, please subscribe to hndflash@hndinc.org.