Hmong, Lao and Ethnic Minorities From Laos Fear Deportation Plan

Hmong advocates and leaders in Wisconsin and throughout the nation are concerned over the Trump’s administration deportation plan of 4,500 Hmong, Lao, Khmu, Mien, Lahu, Thai Lue and Thai Dam residents who served their full sentences in American courts.  

Advocates learned that the U.S. Agency of International Development is funding an integration program in Laos for deportees from the U.S. The integration program suggested that former refugees with no connection to Laos can face deportation.

This has caused fear and concern in the Hmong community of Wisconsin, which has the country’s third-largest Hmong population.

On Feb. 13, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of State that said in part, “Nearly 50,000 Hmong Wisconsinites are our neighbors, family members, and veterans. Many Hmong people living in Wisconsin came here as refugees seeking asylum. They have been an important part of Wisconsin’s fabric and economy. The Trump administration’s veiled negotiations are sowing fear into Hmong communities across Wisconsin.”

On the same day, 21 Wisconsin state representatives wrote a letter to the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation voicing their opposition to the deportation of individuals living in the U.S. back to Laos.

In a 2015 study conducted by the Immigration Justice Clinic of the American University Washington College of Law and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center using Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, researchers found that over 15,000 residents are living and working day-to-day in the U.S. with final orders of removal to Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam. They live without knowing when they will be deported.

The same study reported that 65% to 85% of the final orders of removal to the three countries are due to old criminal convictions. Over half of these convictions were categorized as “aggravated felonies” that lead to automatic deportation and limit forms of possible relief. With some aggravated felony convictions, non-citizens with no legal status do not have the opportunity to go before a judge to challenge their deportation.

Jail lists of ICE holds in some Wisconsin counties, obtained by Media Milwaukee through open records requests, do show some people with Hmong surnames. There are several such people who were held recently in the Marathon County Jail, for example.

Many of the Southeast Asians on the final orders of removal committed crimes when they were younger. They are not citizens because their parents did not become naturalized citizens. Now they are in their 30s and 40s, Freedom Inc. Co-Executive Director Kabzuag Vaj said. They signed the final order of removal in order to be released from being detained. They did not know that signing the paper will lead to deportation.

“Everyone has the right to due process,” said KaYing Yang, Director of Programs and Partnerships of Coalition of Asian American Leaders.

Asian-American advocates and leaders grew worried when they learned the Trump administration had proposed to deport Hmong and Lao residents with criminal backgrounds—in the U.S.

On Feb. 3 Betty McCollum, a state representative from Minnesota, wrote to the Department of State, “It is unconscionable to deport individuals to any country which the U.S. knowingly puts them at physical risk. To make such action is itself a human right abuse. Please know that I oppose all efforts to deport any individuals currently residing in the U.S. to Laos.”

Yang, the community leader, believes deportation would rip families apart.

“The people served their time,” Yang said. “They are now living with their families. They are working regular jobs. They are contributing to society. This would tear the family and community apart. It will traumatize their children.”

The U.S. made repatriation agreements with Cambodia in 2002 and with Vietnam in 2008; however, the U.S. does not have a formal agreement with Laos. Advocates are concerned the State Department’s proposal to the Lao government will change the lives of 4,500 Hmong, Lao, Khmu, Mien, Lahu, Thai Lue and Thai Dam if it passed. Hmong, Lao and the minorities escaped persecution after the Vietnam War ended because they helped the U.S. in a covert operation to counter communism in Laos. They immigrated to the U.S. as political refugees.

“Our Hmong and Lao neighbors are small business owners, combat veterans who fought alongside American soldiers, and passionate people who have shaped Minnesota’s culture into what it is today,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote in a letter to the Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Feb.18. “Most of the Southeast Asian Americans with a deportation order have never lived in those countries or no longer have ties there. Uprooting this community is unjust, immoral, and a betrayal of our country’s patriotic duty to these refugees.”

“People with final orders of removal know they can be deported at any time,” Vaj said. “With the recent proposal, I suggest people with deportation orders seek help from immigration lawyers to protect themselves from the policy. We have partners from all over Wisconsin that can help with legal policy.”

Many Hmong people in the Wisconsin are concerned about the issue regarding deportation of Hmong and Lao residents. Executive Directory of Hmong American Friendship Association Lo Neng Kiatoukaysy said that he fears for his community.

“We came here legally,” Kiatoukaysy said. “Hmong people helped the United States during the Vietnam War. Our parents paid with their blood for us to be here.”

The CIA recruited Hmong people during the Vietnam War as Special Guerrilla Units. They also recruited other Lao ethnic minorities to help with US objectives in Laos. Laos was a neutral country under the 1954 Geneva Accords, but the U.S. began to fund covert military operation using ethnic minorities to counter communism and that would come to be known as the Secret War.

“The reason Hmong people are here in the U.S. is because the Hmong were recruited to be American foot soldiers in Laos,” said Chia Youyee Vang, history professor at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “They were literally American foot soldiers. Laos was supposed to be a neutral country, but the United States and the Communists forces used Laos’ territory for operation.”

Kiatoukaysy said that the Hmong people growing up in America do not know life in Laos. They will have a hard time because they will be looked at as criminal. Being sent back to a country they are not familiar with means they will be surviving rather than living.

Vaj said that the community knows the U.S. government is pressuring Laos. She pointed to the recent example when the U.S. put visa restrictions on Laos’ diplomats from coming to the U.S.

“If anybody is being bullied, it is the Lao government,” Vang said. “They are being bullied by the United States to accept people who never knew Laos.”