FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2019
Contact: Tracy La, tracy@vietrise.org

Breaking: Little Saigon Protests Demand Local Officials “Bring Human Rights Home”

Watch Live Video: bit.ly/ls4sanctuary-live
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“Human rights means no racist raids, no migrant concentration camps, and no hate groups”

Little Saigon, California — On Thursday evening, a march through Orange County’s Little Saigon called on local officials to “bring human rights home” for today’s immigrant and refugee communities under attack.  The march through historic Little Saigon denounced Trump’s “racist offensive” and explicitly called out Vietnamese elected officials OC Supervisor Andrew Do, the OC Board of Supervisors, Westminster Mayor Tri Ta, and the Westminster City Council for siding with Trump against immigrants in California. 

“As a community that has lived the refugee experience, that sought sanctuary in a new land, that suffered the violence of anti-immigrant racism, it is our responsibility to fight against this injustice today,” said Kacey Nguyen, long-time Westminster resident, “The deaths of people, the migrant concentration camps, the horrid xenophobia coming from the President’s own mouth, we can no longer be silent – and neither can our elected officials.”

Last year, the OC Board of Supervisors sided with Donald Trump and white nationalist hate group FAIR in an orchestrated attack against California’s Values Act, a state law that limits the use of state resources for immigration enforcement.  Residents are pointing to the OC officials that have yet to take action against Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, including Supervisor Andrew Do, Westminster Mayor Tri Ta and City Council members. 

“Human rights means sanctuary for all of us,” said Niki Nguyen, life-long Westminster resident, “It means no racist raids, no concentration camps, and no white nationalism – it’s time for OC’s elected officials to speak out.” 

The Little Saigon community of Orange County includes the cities of Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Fountain Valley and represents the largest community of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.  The march was brought together by VietRISE, VietUnity Southern California, Viet Rainbow of Orange County (VROC), and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), and counts with the support of a broad array of community and civil rights groups. 

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