Vietnamese Refugees in Orange County

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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 .

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