8000 Vietnamese Americans Face Deportation
Mai Lynn Miller Nguyễn writes in Elle:
If the Trump administration succeeds, thousands of people could become eligible for deportation to Vietnam, a country where they may not have lived for decades. Trump’s move puts at risk those who either never got permanent legal status or citizenship or those who were convicted of a criminal offense. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has said that removing “criminal aliens” from Vietnam to their “home country” is a priority.
The problem is that the home country of these people is now the United States. After enduring the incredible trauma of war and flight, they built new lives and created new families, both biological and metaphorical. They may still long for the homeland they lost in 1975, but the Vietnam of today is not their country. They are American, in spirit, even if not on paper. They were promised residency in this country, an acknowledgment of the U.S. role in the brutal conflict that pushed so many Vietnamese to seek safety on other shores. And, once again, many will live in fear of being forced from their home.
When I read Vietnamese-American media, they all showed their support of him. They argued that voting for him will save Vietnam from the communist. This is absurd beyond fake news, yet most Vietnamese American believed the media. They supported him. In return, he deports our fellow Vietnamese Americans. Let that sink in for a minute. I hope they learn their lesson.