As summer draws to a close and our immigrant communities face ongoing attacks on their rights, August was a month of adaptation as we pivoted to focus on what we do best. VietRISE is committed to amping up our community organizing, policy advocacy, and Know Your Rights efforts – to resist an administration built on hate and bigotry. Read more about our strategic shift here.
While our one-on-one support program has ended, August also sparked moments of joy that kept us grounded in this work. From a celebration of our youth cohort to a lively community picnic, we look forward to launching our Fall Civic Engagement program in early October and ensuring that our community’s voices are heard.
Mark Your Calendar & Get Involved
Join Our Fall Civic Engagement Program!
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From October 4 to November 22, our civic engagement team will canvass Vietnamese voters in an 8-week, door-to-door program. Canvassers will connect with Little Saigon residents about important community issues. Apply by September 5th.
Location: In-person, based at our Garden Grove office (short-distance travel required to Westminster & Santa Ana).
Full details and required qualifications: linktr.ee/VietRISE
OC Community Self-Defense Coalition: Training for ICE Patrols
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The OC Community Self-Defense Coalition is committed to defending our communities against immigration enforcement by patrolling our Little Saigon & Little Arabia neighborhoods, documenting abductions, and providing resources for people to defend themselves. Volunteer trainings are announced weekly and training is required for all interested folks to begin patrols/outreach.
Fill out our interest form to get notified of the next training: tinyurl.com/occsdc-patrols
Resources
GGUSD Family Helpline
The Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) has established a hotline to connect immigrant families with bilingual support (in Spanish and Vietnamese), social services, legal resources, and access to trusted organizations, as well as food resources.
📞 (714) 663-6257
🕗 Available Mon–Fri, 8am–4:30pm (except holidays)
🌐 Korean & Arabic support available upon request
NDLON Legal Hotline for Day Laborers
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) has launched a hotline to connect day laborers and their families with legal resources and mutual aid.
📞 If you know a day laborer who was detained in Orange County, call (626) 799-3566.
Support for Vietnamese Community Members in the Immigration System
This online guide is for Vietnamese community members in OC facing deportation or supporting loved ones through the process. It includes info on legal resources, record requests, and advocacy efforts.
Our staff have been working with and providing accompaniment to community members facing detention and deportation, as Vietnamese community members across the country have reached out with questions about their case as immigration enforcement increases nationally. We share information about the history of deportations to Viet Nam from the US, review potential pathways for community members to defend against deportation, and connect people directly to pro bono attorneys.
Note: This guide is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.
Campaign & Program News
Summer Community Picnic
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Thank you to everyone who joined us for a day of food, community, and cultural education! Together, we supported local vendors and learned about the historical unraveling of Vietnam’s August Revolution. We look forward to continuing this dialogue on what it means to empower ourselves through our history.
ICE Out of Orange County Action at Garden Grove Home Depot
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In mid-August, masked Border Patrol agents violently targeted, brutalized and racially profiled migrant workers across multiple locations in OC, including a car wash in Anaheim and the Home Depot in Garden Grove. We say ENOUGH. We’re standing together in Little Saigon and Little Arabia to protect our neighbors.
In response, the Orange County Community Self Defense Coalition (OCCSDC) and local groups gathered in front of the Home Depot where the raids were conducted to condemn these actions and make it known that we won’t stop until ICE ends the kidnapping of our communities!
Tự Lực School for Organizing Open Mic Night and Celebration & Closing Ceremony
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Thank you to everyone who attended the Open Mic Night – Unbounded by Lines: Empowerment Through Shared Stories hosted by the 2025 TLSO youth cohort! Over the 8-week program, they worked hard to plan a memorable event and implement their ideas – from the refreshments to the program to the outreach. Through this project, they sharpened their collaboration skills, built up their initiative and confidence, and expressed their stories and creativity with the Little Saigon community.
The following week, we celebrated the cohort’s accomplishments at our Closing Ceremony. Each participant reflected on how they grew and what they will be taking away from the program. We are so proud to have witnessed their leadership and determination to make positive change!
Features
Voice of OC - Garden Grove Leaders Back Off From Responding to ICE Raids
Amidst community concerns around public safety and immigrant rights, the Garden Grove City Council has failed to enact a meaningful response to local ICE raids. In the past month, ICE has targeted day laborers at a Home Depot in the city, along with wrongfully detaining a parent at a Garden Grove elementary school.
“Every arrest, detainment and deportation sends ripples across an entire community,” said Tim Phan, the Civic Engagement Manager at VietRISE. “The children are especially affected by memories of their parents being ripped away by masked men, and that sense of fear and anxiety have far reaching consequences that harm all of us.” We call on our elected officials to condemn the deportation sweeps and to protect the rights of our immigrant and refugee community members.
Tim Phan - Bản đồ mới! How California’s Drastic Redistricting Move Will Impact Little Saigon
California voters have an important opportunity this November to decide whether or not to approve redistricted Congressional maps! The approval of these maps will have major consequences for Little Saigon.
Read our preliminary analysis of Prop 50, and stay tuned for more! Let us know what you think of this election and what questions you’d like to see answered.
COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS
Vy Do
Vy joined VietRISE through our youth programs back in 2022 and made her return in 2024. As this year’s Program Intern, and added her own special touch to the 2025 Tự Lực School for Organizing, supporting the youth cohort with Vietnamese language learning and preparations for their Open Mic Night.
We have seen Vy show tremendous growth across the years, demonstrating initiative, leadership, and creativity, and dedication to making a meaningful difference in the world around her. Whether through her countless hours of volunteering, having led several student clubs in high school, or cooking a meal for those around her.
Thank you for being a part of our community,
– The VietRISE Team
The Fullerton Observer would like to reprint your newsletter on our website. Recently OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen sent a press release out which smears your group. It looks to us that you are doing great work and we would like our readers to be aware of that.
Hi Sharon, thank you for reaching out. You’re welcome to reprint our newsletter. Here is the link to our statement we published on September 25: https://vietrise.org/statement-corrupt-maga-vietnamese-american-politicians-are-coordinating-attacks-on-vietrise-and-our-progressive-work-but-we-remain-steadfast-to-change-little-saigon-for-the-better/