This article focuses on the refugees from former French Indochina—who they are, where they have resettled in the United States, and their integration into the American work force. Most of the data reported here are on the Vietnamese, who are by far the largest number of refugees from Indochina in the United States. Vietnamese entering the country were, for the most part, well educated, young, and accompanied by their families. Initially they were scattered through the country by U.S. voluntary agencies that took responsibility for resettlement. Since initial resettlement, there has been considerable secondary migration within the United States that has resulted in the formation of refugee communities. In the United States, Vietnamese have experienced considerable occupational and social downward mobility. They have entered the American work force at rates comparable to native-born Americans. However, they have taken jobs that pay at best the minimum wage, and, while employment rates are high, they remain dependent on the American welfare system for survival.
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References
1.
U.S., General Accounting Office , Greater Emphasis on Early Employment and Better Monitoring Needed in Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Program (Washington, DC: General Accounting Office, 1983), p. 1.
2.
2. For a description of the three waves, see Scott C.S. Stone and John E. McGowan, Wrapped in the Wind's Shawl: Refugees in Southeast Asia and the Western World (San Rafael, CA: Presidio Press, 1980).
3.
see also Tricia Knoll, Becoming Americans: Asian Sojourners, Immigrants and Refugees in the Western United States (Portland, OR: Coast to Coast Books, 1982).
4.
4. For an excellent overview of U.S. immigration policy, see Charlotte J. Moore, Review of U.S. Refugee Resettlement Programs and Policies: A Report Prepared at the Request of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chair, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1980), esp. app. 2.
5.
ibid., pt. 4, Staff Reports Prepared for the Use of the Subcommittee, 94th Cong., 1st sess., 9 June and 8 July 1972, p. 2.
6.
Astri Suhrke , “Indochinese Refugees and American Policy,”World Today, 32(2):54-62 (Feb. 1981).
7.
Moore , Review of U.S. Refugee Resettlement Programs.
8.
P. D. Starr and A. E. Roberts, “Community Structure and Vietnamese Refugee Adaptation: The Significance of Context,”International Migration Review, 16(3):595-618 (1982).
9.
Le-The-Que , A. Terry Rambo, and Gary D. Murfin, “Why They Fled: Refugee Movement during the Spring 1975 Communist Offensive in South Vietnam,”Asian Survey, 16(9):855-863 (Sept. 1976).
10.
William H. Meredith and Bette J. Tweton, eds., Compiled Proceedings: Helping Indochinese Families in Transition, ED 206 768 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska, College of Home Economics, 1981).
11.
11. Kelly, From Vietnam to America.
12.
12. U.S., Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Task Force for Indochinese Refugees, Report to the Congress, lithographed, 1976, p. 28.
13.
Gim and Litwin, Indochinese Refugees in America.
14.
Elizabeth Winkler , “Voluntary Agencies and Government Policy,”International Migration Review, 15(1):95-98 (Spring-Summer1981).
15.
15. Task Force for Indochinese Refugees, Report to the Congress, p. 29.
16.
16. Indochina Resettlement Program, case load by state, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, 30 June 1976. Typewritten attachment to letter of Susan J. Severance to Gail P. Kelly, 13 Dec. 1976, Vietnamese Immigration Collection, SUNY/Buffalo Archives, Box 4.
17.
17. Dat Lanh, Bo 4, So 3, 26 Oct. 1975, p. 3.
18.
18. Ibid., Bo 3, So 49, 22 Oct. 1975, p. 3.
19.
19. Ibid., p. 2.
20.
See also Report of the Interagency Task Force, 2 May-20 Dec. 1975, Fort Chaffee, 14 Jan. 1976, p. LX-H-78.
21.
21. See esp. General Accounting Office, Greater Emphasis on Early Employment, p. 51.
22.
see also Julia Vadala Taft, David S. North, and David Ford, Refugee Resettlement in the United States: Time for a New Focus, A Report (Washington, DC: New Transcentury Foundation, 1979), p. 186.
23.
Gim and Litwin, Indochinese Refugees in America.
24.
24. This conclusion does not originate with me; rather, it was articulated by the General Accounting Office in its 1983 report. See General Accounting Office, Greater Emphasis on Early Employment.
General Accounting Office , Greater Emphasis on Early Employment, tabs. 3-1 and 3-2 and p. 17.
27.
Robert Bachet al. , “The Economic Adjustment of Southeast Asian Refugees in the U.S.,” ED 241 611 (Unpublished document, n.p., 1983).
28.
28. Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and International Law, Extension of Indochina Refugee Assistance, tab. 15, p. 173.
29.
General Accounting Office , Greater Emphasis on Early Employment, tabs. 3-1 and 3-2.
30.
30. General Accounting Office, Greater Emphasis on Early Employment.
31.
31. U.S., Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy, Hearings. Proposed Regulation Changes for Refugee Assistance, 97th Cong., 2d sess., 9 Feb. 1982, p. 2.
32.
32. Perry M. Nicassio“Empirical Dimensions of Adjustment among the Indochinese Refugees,” ED 222 603 (Unpublished manuscript, 1982), fig. 1, p. 18.
33.
A Gallup poll indicating that most Americans preferred that Vietnamese not be allowed to enter the U.S. was reported in Time magazine. See “Refugees: A Cool and Wary Reception,”Time, 12 May 1975, pp. 24, 26.
34.
Gim and Litwin, Indochinese Refugees in America.
35.
Donald Cohen, Jr. , “Psychological Adaptation and Dysfunction among Refugees,”International Migration Review, 15(1):255-275 (Spring-Summer 1981).
36.
36. Indochinese Refugee Assistance Program, Report to the Congress, p. 240.
