Since 1998, more than 9,000 Vietnamese immigrants have been issued a final order of removal. A change in the current MOU would potentially make over 8,500 of these individuals immediately vulnerable to deportation.¹ Many of these community members came to the United States as refugees after the fallout from the Vietnam War and have been living in the country peacefully supporting US citizen families.

Earlier this year, Asian Americans Advancing Justice filed a lawsuit against the US government challenging the unjust detentions and deportations of these “pre-’95” Vietnamese immigrants. Though Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it would cease to detain these community members for a prolonged period of time, a declaration from a DHS official also stated that the agency would continue to pursue changes to the current MOU between the countries. This possible meeting between the US and Vietnamese governments is alarming under an Administration that has repeatedly attempted to ramp up enforcement efforts against immigrants across the country.

“The current US-Vietnam repatriation agreement must be maintained,” said Quyen Dinh, executive director at SEARAC. “Any revisions to this agreement that eliminates the ’95 bar would endanger thousands of Vietnamese refugees, most of whom have been in the United States for decades. The Administration has continued to increase its efforts to tear immigrant families apart. This meeting is just one more attack against our communities in their larger actions against immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. SEARAC will not stand by idly while our communities are under threat and will remain vigilant in holding this Administration accountable to our communities.”

On Saturday, SEARAC joined the Vietnamese Anti-Deportation Network and more than 40 community advocates to discuss strategies to prevent changes to the agreement.

“In just a few days of learning about this covert DHS meeting, thousands across the country are standing against any changes that would deport more people and cause damaging family separation,” said Cat Bao Le, an organizer with the Vietnamese Anti-Deportation Network. “It is simply wrong to deport refugees who were being persecuted in Vietnam due to factors in which the US played a hand. Now 43 years later, people are at risk of being torn apart from their families and sent back to a country from which they fled and have little ties.”