::: << STOP Vietnamese Deportations!!! Petition to Department of Homeland Security >> ::::
Natalie Newton
March 22, 2008
The US government has ignored efforts from Vietnamese community and lawmakers in the California Bay Area to delay the petition and attempts to inquire more from
Approximately 1500 people, who entered the country after July 12, 1995 and who have final orders of deportation issued some time after they arrived in the US, will now face detention in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention centers and deportation.
Why protest this agreement?
1) This agreement unjustly punishes immigrants 2 or 3 times over for one conviction. Many have already served their time in immigration detention or criminal incarceration, however they now face a second period of detention in ICE detention centers and deportations.
2) This agreement violates their human rights and tears apart families and community left behind.
3) This agreement increases US power over Vietnam and continues the US's lack of accountability in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
Aren't they just deporting "illegal criminals" anyway?
Not necessarily. Those under this agreement have been at some time in their stay in the US been convicted of deportable crimes (also known as "aggravated felonies"), leading to their current legal status in the US "under orders of supervision." If a US-citizen commits one of these same crimes, they would never get deported, an injustice to those who may not have legal status for many reasons. These "aggravated felonies" subject only to undocumented immigrants also include some minor violations and misdemeanors. In addition, since the creation of these conditions for deportation under the Clinton administration in 1996, immigrants have been routinely denied a fair day in court when considering their immigration cases. Others Vietnamese immigrants specifically may have also been refugees at sea for many years, and the entered the US after 1997, when the US stopped accepting refugees.
Petition addressed to Department of Homeland Security: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-vietnamese-deportations
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(English): http://www.searac.org/faq-vietus1-30-08.pdf,
(Tieng Viet): http://www.searac.org/faq-vietus2-20-08-viet.pdf
US-Vietnam international relations and one man's story:
"Sending Boat People Back to Vietnam" http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=566151faf60e3be20a3968d86e648de4
Northwest Immigrants Rights Project: www.nwirp.org