FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021

Contact: Tracy La (tracy@vietrise.org)

ORANGE COUNTY, CA; NEW YORK, NY; PHILADELPHIA, PA; SAN JOSE, CA; WASHINGTON, DC.; SEATTLE, WA – In the midst of the Biden Administration’s 100-day deportation moratorium, organizations across the country working to end the deportation of Vietnamese immigrants and refugees were notified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has scheduled a deportation flight to Viet Nam on Monday morning, March 15, from Texas. There are 33 Vietnamese people who are scheduled to be on this flight. Among the 33 people are Hieu Huynh, a 49-year old refugee who arrived in 1980 with his family after fleeing the aftermath of the war in Viet Nam, and Tien Pham, a Vietnamese refugee who spent years in a refugee camp and resettled in San Jose, CA following the war. 

Several of the Vietnamese refugees set to be deported by the Biden Administration include those who came before 1995. The United States and Viet Nam signed a bilateral agreement in 2008 that prevents Vietnamese refugees who came to the U.S. before 1995. The scheduled deportation of Vietnamese refugees on this Monday flight not only violates this agreement, but is recognized by all of the organizations signing onto this statement as an act of anti-Asian violence.

During President Biden’s first address to the nation, he denounced violent attacks against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic and called on the attacks to end immediately. On his 2020 campaign trail, Biden published an op-ed in one of the most prominent Vietnamese newspapers in the country, sharing how proud he was to “have voted to increase funding to help newly arrived Vietnamese resettle in the U.S.” after fleeing persecution.  Finally, In a January 26, 2021 memo, he declared, “The Federal Government should combat racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against [APIs] and should work to ensure that all members of AAPI communities — no matter their background, the language they speak, or their religious beliefs — are treated with dignity and equity.”

Below is a statement shared by all of the signed organizations:

“Deporting Vietnamese immigrants and refugees to a country that they have not known since they were young is an anti-Asian violent attack, not only on them as individuals, but on their family and our Vietnamese and immigrant communities across the country.

As organizations working with Vietnamese immigrants and fighting to end all deportations, we call on the Biden Administration to do better for Asian communities than his predecessor, end this senseless anti-Asian violence, immediately stop the March 15th deportation flight to Viet Nam, and end all deportations now.”

The organizations plan to host a rally in Westminster Park, Little Saigon, CA on Sunday, March 14 at 12:00PM PST to denounce the deportation of Vietnamese refugees, and call on the Biden Administration to ground the plane and halt all deportations until a DOJ investigation of ICE is completed.

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The list of organizations include: VietRISE, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, VietLead, Mekong-NYC, SEADefense Project, Providence Youth Student Movement, SEAC Village, Asian American Resource Workshop, Freedom, Inc., KhAAG, ManForward, Release Minnesota 8, Southeast Asian Freedom Network, The Sống Collective, Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility, Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education, Revere Youth in Action, Sông2Sea, Api Rise (Asian Pacific Islander Reentry & Inclusion Through Support & Empowerment), Việt Solidarity & Action Network, Viet Rainbow of Orange County, AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund (AAPI FORCE-EF), Vietnamese American Organization (VAO), Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, The TSMP Collective, VietUnity – Bay Area, Unified Asian Communities (UAC) Maine…