ILRC "Know Your Rights" Youth Handbook
Bao Thien Ngo
I thought this was a nice handbook for non-citizen immigrants.
Although it targets youth, I think its simplicity makes it good for
the general public anyway. I'd like to know from anyone here if there
is a Vietnamese-language equivalent of this kind of handbook, and
whether there was one for the Cambodian American community when the
deportation issue started to affect them.
San Jose usually hosts the CommUnity Resource Fair for the Vietnamese
American community in June each year. If there is no Vietnamese-
language equivalent of this handbook, then we should probably work
with ILRC to develop a translated version and to have several hundred
published in time for the Resource Fair.
I encourage other Southeast Asian ethnic communities to develop
translations in their languages as well.
Bao Thien Ngo
UVSA Northern California
Chanda Chhin
I was wondering if any there was any thoughts of reaching out to Vietnamese community...e.g. having the current policies translated in Vietnamese, bilingual Vietnamese news, teach-ins, etc. Just a thought.
In Solidarity,
Chanda Chhin
209.351.2645
>>> Bao Thien Ngo <bao.th...@norcaluvsa.org> >>>
http://www.ilrc.org/resources/sijs/Youth%20Handbook.pdf
I thought this was a nice handbook for non-citizen immigrants.
Although it targets youth, I think its simplicity makes it good for
the general public anyway. I'd like to know from anyone here if thereis a Vietnamese-language equivalent of this kind of handbook, and
Huy Tran
The most obvious draw for the elders is to turn this into an issue of humanitarian rights. The deportees are people who have families and have been here for many years, even if they may have made some mistakes. To have them be sent back into the hands of a regime with a record of egregious human rights violations, as shown by how they treated dissidents like Father Nguyen Van Ly, Le Tri Tue, Le Thi Cong Nhan, would be to put these deportees into harms way.
Huy Tran
Public Relations and Outreach Chair
United Vietnamese Student Associations of Northern California
www.norcaluvsa.org
Pham, Christine
Sounds like a good idea - I can ask if there is an interested group. I can't make the actual ask due to ethics but perhaps I can offer suggestions.
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Pham, Christine
Yeah….I don’t think any community, ethnic or not, would support any issue when its framed as “protecting criminal” which is why ICE usually loves to flaunt that angle. I believe Bao and I both kept running lists of Vietnamese organizations in the area that we’d be able to share. Aside from the SEARAC materials, I don’t think any other items have been translated into Vietnamese, but there may be immigration documents from some of the existing groups such as SIREN and IRCC.
From:
vietnamese-...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:vietnamese-...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Huy Tran
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
9:23 PM
To:
vietnamese-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Vietnamese Deportation]
Re: ILRC "Know Your Rights" Youth Handbook
In reaching out to the elders in the community in San Jose, what I've found effective is how the issue is framed. The Vietnamese community is still conservative, and I do not believe that they will respond if they view this as "protecting criminals." Bao has done a lot of work in the San Jose community, so if I'm wrong Bao, please chime in.
Bao Thien Ngo
before, that the framework is important. We're trying to investigate
how the Vietnamese media portrayed this issue, because when we talk to
a few parents, who primarily receive their news from Vietnamese
newspapers and radio, it seemed that they only understand that the MOU
was to deport criminals. They did not know that there were broader
implications or underlying problems than just simply deporting
criminals.
We are investigating into old newspaper articles and radio show
recordings on any mention about the MOU to see what exactly was
broadcasted to the general Vietnamese community. Of the English
articles that I've collected, I can tell you exactly the evolution of
the portrayal of the issue, which spanned from initially the
deportation of illegal Vietnamese (Mercury News, Jan 22, 2008) to a
possible overreach of (still) illegal Vietnamese charged with minor
crimes (Mercury News, Feb 23, 2008). Alternative sources have pointed
out that we don't have a profile of those with a deportation order,
but how many people read alternative sources?
Regardless of our findings, there is definitely a need to educate the
Vietnamese community more on this issue, the truth of the matter being
that we don't know the profile of those affected. A brief discussion
within our circles brought out an informal agreement: we need
materials translated, and we need trained/educated bilingual teams to
do research, go onto the Vietnamese airwave (radio and TV) for
interviews, and to write OpEds for the Vietnamese media. Dialogue (I
suggest using this term rather than "teach-ins" around elders, because
we don't want to imply that youth know more than their elders) needs
to be conducted with Vietnamese community-based organizations (CBOs)
who are often the gatekeepers to monolingual Vietnamese immigrants.
We've received a few stories of deportation cases, but there are still
insufficient stories to fully grasp the picture. So far all we can
convey are possibilities and generalities, which only furthers the
stigma and stereotype of this group of "criminals" and/or "illegals"
by shrouding them in a cloud of mystery and simplification. We are
definitely interested in waiting for stories to come in from SEAMIC
and I would even suggest not limiting yourselves to any particular
community, but to collect stories of anyone affected by deportation. I
wonder where you plan to publish these stories that is accessible to
everyone.
Bao Thien Ngo
UVSA Northern California
> Hello Bao,
>
> I was wondering if any there was any thoughts of reaching out to Vietnamese community...e.g. having the current policies translated in Vietnamese, bilingual Vietnamese news, teach-ins, etc. Just a thought.
>
> In Solidarity,
> Chanda Chhin
> 209.351.2645
>