For years refugees have come to America from all over the globe coming from Syria, Vietnam, Iraq, and even Australia. A refugee is different than an immigrant, in such a way that they are basically forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or a natural disaster. Unlike immigrants who have been here for a long time like the Mexicans, or the Japanese, the Vietnamese have been in the U.S for around thirty years or less. After the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese feared for their life and were forced to leave their county for liberty. The Vietnamese arrived here as refugees, not voluntary immigrants.
The Vietnamese refugees fled to America in a few waves, one was after the Vietnam War in 1975 and was aided heavily by the US. The US did not support Communism and with the fall of the South Vietnam government and Communism taking over, the US did everything they could to help get them out. The US provided military cargo ships, planes, whatever they could do to help. The Vietnamese were transferred to US government bases in Thailand, Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines. When they got over to the US, they were put in refugee camps like Camp Pendleton in California, and one of the biggest Fort Chaffee. At first the American people did not welcome the Vietnamese. Fortunately when Ford passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which assisted refugees who fled from Vietnam and Cambodia, Americans got used to the Vietnamese being in the US. There were about 100,000 Vietnamese that left Vietnam and came to the US. Most who fled Vietnam ended up in California. In California they had one pretty big refugee camp in Camp Pendleton. From there, that’s how the Vietnamese ended up in Orange County.
Since World War 2, mor...
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...eing from San Diego, I think the Vietnamese have done a great job at being a part of the American society. We accept them and even cherish what they have brought to us especially the food. The Vietnamese have made it their home here and their home is now a part of our society.
Cited Sources:
Hinch, Jim. "O.C.'s Saigon? Nothing little about it." The Orange County Register 1 Nov. 2012. 10 Mar. 2014 .
"Metropolitan Policy Program." The Brookings Institution. 11 Mar. 2014 .
"The Vietnamese Population in the United States: 2010." United States Census. U.S Census Bureau. .
“Vietnamese Community of Orange County, Inc.” Vietnamese Community of Orange
County, Inc. 11 Mar. 2014 .
In the article "Nuer Refugees in America", Thok Ding and his family was forced to leave their home in Sudan due to a civil war that started during the 20th century. This actions caused Thok and his family to reluctantly become refugees. When Thok first arrived in America, Thok had to deal with the process of assimilation but was unhappy because he did not have anyone to practice nationalism with. This confirmed his decision to move to Des Moines, Iowa. However, after migrating to the United States several years later, Thok moved to Des Moines and made the decision to stay in the United States which would then changed his status to immigrant. In my opinion, this process impacted Thok because he was thrown into a society without anyone from his own culture or country to help guide him. According to the article, policy makers believe that dispersal increases individuals ' ability to adapt successfully to their new environment and that it decreases any disruptive impact on the host community that receives the community. I think this is unfair to refugees and immigrants because they are made to believe that America is a "melting pot" but the government is forcing them to assimilate without
A Refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country because of the war or the
Just like the durian, my Vietnamese culture repulsed me as a young child. I always felt that there was something shameful in being Vietnamese. Consequently, I did not allow myself to accept the beauty of my culture. I instead looked up to Americans. I wanted to be American. My feelings, however, changed when I entered high school. There, I met Vietnamese students who had extraordinary pride in their heritage. Observing them at a distance, I re-evaluated my opinions. I opened my life to Vietnamese culture and happily discovered myself embracing it. `
Many refugees got so desperate that they purposely sunk there boats offshore so that they could not be turned away or put back out to see (Vietnamese Boat People). Nevertheless countries like Malaysia and Thailand took in refugees and had fully functioning refugee camps set up (Vietnamese Boat People). For some they settled in these countries permanently and other sought and found asylum in Europe, the U.S., or Australia (Vietnamese Boat People).
Many Hmong refugees were denied access to the United States because of anti-immigration policies, which was a betrayal that helped to explain the Hmong’s distrust to Americans in some ways.
A refugee is a person who is being persecuted for their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; refugees are everywhere around us and we don’t even know it. Salva, in A Long Walk to Water, was a refugee, and still is. He, along with many others, was a victim of the War in Sudan. He was fearful for his life so he had to flee his home and wound up in America, fulfilling his purpose by giving back to all of the people in Sudan, where he once was victimized. Like Salva, all refugees go through different stages when moving to another place, most common is having a hard time accepting losses and overcoming homesickness, but with help from many different people and things, they can get past this.
Vietnamese American people in Little Saigon manifest their unique identities in many ways such as personal relationships, cultural artifacts and material experiences. Little Saigon shows who they really are and what they have. They are influenced by American and other Asian cultures, and make Little Saigon a blended community, which tries to maintain their own native history and cultures at the same time. I think Little Saigon is like “little America” because the United States has the myth of the melting pot that many different cultures melt together into a harmonious one big culture. The Little Saigon itself has harmonious cultures that reflect Vietnamese American’s various identities and diverse community.
In such a heated topic, it is important to make the distinction between an asylum seeker and refugee. Definitions are disputed, but the UN uses the following definitions. A refugee is a person who has left their country due to legitimate fears of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political views, or social class. An asylum seeker is someone who claims refugee status but has yet to officially gained said status. Often times, one might seek asylum in times of war or when one feels threatened by their government. It is important to note that while a definition seems straightforward, arge political controversies may arise depending on the...
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a term applied to anyone who is outside his/her own country and cannot return due to the fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political opinion. Many “refugees” that the media and the general public refer to today are known as internally displaced persons, which are people forced to flee their homes to avoid things such as armed conflict, generalized violations of human rights or natural and non-natural disasters. These two groups are distinctly different but fall ...
When these soldiers came home the did not know what to expect from everyone that they left before the war. The war was not popular at home so the soldiers were rejected when they got home( Effect on the Vietnam War). They were also rejected by the government and their towns people. They hated that the soldiers fought for their country they thought that it was for selfish reasons. The people did not want any of the veterans near them and also did not care for their welfare.
Vietnam has gone through a major change during and after the Vietnam War. In the beginning the country’s citizens were fighting with the help of America to gain control of their government. Refugees are people who solely have a push factor of migration. They have to leave their country and usually do not have a specific destination in mind. Refugees are due to political reasons or war, there status has been legally recognized since the 1950’s. Vietnamese refugees coming into America were introduced by the Communist regime taking over after the Vietnam War. There are three major waves of Vietnamese immigration. There come many struggles to gaining citizenship, finding a stable job, immersing with American culture, and
Refugees do not simply choose to be “refugees.” There are many aspects that go into account when displacement occurs. War is often associated with refugee displacement. Even a simple task of walking in the streets can be dangerous. In an interview with Time magazine, Syrian refugee Faez al Sharaa says that he was held up at gunpoint with three other people in his homeland after soldiers accused him of being a terrorist. "We felt death upon us," Sharaa said (Altman 24). His backyard turned into a battle ground, while young kids were fighting for their lives (Altman 24). War
The US did the same exact thing except there were many people left behind that we could not transport due to the importance of emptying out embassy. Over fifty countries pooled resources together but out of all the United States had a much bigger sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of our young men. These men started coming into Vietnam as early as 1962.
Trinh Vö, L. (2008). Constructing a Vietnamese American Community: Economic and Political Transformation in Little Saigon, Orange County. Amerasia Journal, 34(3), 85-109.
A refugee is defined as an individual who has been forced to leave their country due to political or religious reasons, or due to threat of war or violence. There were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, 14.4 million under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 2.9 million more than in 2013. The other 5.1 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). With the displacement of so many people, it is difficult to find countries willing to accept all the refugees. There are over 125 different countries that currently host refugees, and with this commitment comes the responsibility of ensuring these refugees have access to the basic requirements of life; a place to live, food to eat, and a form of employment or access to education. Currently, the largest cause of refugees is the Syrian civil war, which has displaced over 2.1 million people. As a country of relative wealth, the United States should be able to provide refuge for many refugees, as well as provide monetary support to the refugees that they are not able to receive.