Emigration
Emigration is no longer a solution; it's a defeat. People are risking death, drowning every day, but they're knocking on doors that are not open.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
On April 30, 1975, “the fall of Saigon” ended the Vietnam War and
prompted the first of two waves of emigration from Vietnam to the United States. Vietnamese who had worked closely with Americans during the Vietnam War feared punishment from the Communist party. 125,000 Vietnamese citizens departed during the spring of 1975. They fled Vietnam on U.S. military cargo ships and were transferred to United States government bases in Guam, Thailand, Wake Island, Hawaii and the Philippines, as part of “Operation New Life." Eventually, they were transferred to one of four refugee centers throughout the United States.
Americans were initially not supportive of Operation New Life. A 1975 poll showed only 36% of Americans supported Vietnamese immigration. The Ford Administration supported the arrival of Vietnamese immigrants and passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Act of 1975. This Act established a program of domestic resettlement assistance for refugees who fled from Cambodia and Vietnam.
In 1977, a second wave of Vietnamese refugees began fleeing Vietnam. This wave of emigration lasted until the mid 1980s.
The second wave began as a result of the new Communist government’s policies. All economic, political and agricultural policies are based on Communist ideology. During this time 2,000,000 Vietnamese fled Vietnam in small, overcrowded boats. This group of refugees would come to be known as the “boat people.” Most of the “boat people” fled to asylum camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines or Hong Kong and awaited acceptance by foreign countries.
prompted the first of two waves of emigration from Vietnam to the United States. Vietnamese who had worked closely with Americans during the Vietnam War feared punishment from the Communist party. 125,000 Vietnamese citizens departed during the spring of 1975. They fled Vietnam on U.S. military cargo ships and were transferred to United States government bases in Guam, Thailand, Wake Island, Hawaii and the Philippines, as part of “Operation New Life." Eventually, they were transferred to one of four refugee centers throughout the United States.
Americans were initially not supportive of Operation New Life. A 1975 poll showed only 36% of Americans supported Vietnamese immigration. The Ford Administration supported the arrival of Vietnamese immigrants and passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Act of 1975. This Act established a program of domestic resettlement assistance for refugees who fled from Cambodia and Vietnam.
In 1977, a second wave of Vietnamese refugees began fleeing Vietnam. This wave of emigration lasted until the mid 1980s.
The second wave began as a result of the new Communist government’s policies. All economic, political and agricultural policies are based on Communist ideology. During this time 2,000,000 Vietnamese fled Vietnam in small, overcrowded boats. This group of refugees would come to be known as the “boat people.” Most of the “boat people” fled to asylum camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines or Hong Kong and awaited acceptance by foreign countries.