Southeast Asian Americans

Historical Overview

Because a large number of Southeast Asian Americans migrated to the United States as refugees, to fully understand this population, it is crucial to distinguish [Page 438]between refugees and immigrants. A key distinction is captured by the phrase forced versus free, which refers to involuntary versus voluntary migration. Refugees are forced to leave or displaced from their country of origin by events that are outside their control, such as war or genocide. Refugees, therefore, are distinguished from other migrants such as immigrants or sojourners by their involuntary and sudden departure. During the Vietnam War, Southeast Asians were illprepared for their sudden departure from their familiar world and faced uncertainty, confusion, high risk for their personal safety, and complete disruption of their normal lives. The chaos resulted in the loss of reference groups such as family, community, culture, and country, as well as the loss of personal identity.

Southeast Asians entered the United States in two waves, each wave having different demographic characteristics and experiences before and after migration. The first wave of Southeast Asians left Vietnam before the fall of Saigon in 1975 and entered the United States directly or through refugee camps. Because of their close association with the United States and the South Vietnamese forces, these refugees received assistance during the fall of Saigon from the American government, which hastily evacuated refugees by helicopter and sealift. This first wave of refugees, mainly Vietnamese, tended to be relatively welleducated and could speak some English.

The second wave of Southeast Asians, which entered the United States between 1978 and 1980, consisted of mainly Vietnamese, Laotians, Hmong, and Cambodians who had escaped their homes by sea or had made the hazardous journey through the jungle. Refugees from Vietnam left in small, overcrowded, and unseaworthy boats; they were known as “boat people.” This group encountered brutal attacks by sea pirates, and many experienced severe violence, rape, or murder. Cambodians, Hmong, and Laotians escaped by land through the jungle, crossing minefields and avoiding ambushes by military soldiers. They encountered tropical diseases, death, hunger, starvation, and exhaustion. Further compounding the trauma, the second wave of refugees were forced to wait in overcrowded and unsanitary refugee camps in Thailand, the Philippines, and Hong Kong for months or even years before they were permanently resettled in the United States or elsewhere.

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