respond 11

Unlike other Asian immigrants who came to the U.S during the first period to seek better opportunities, the Vietnamese came to the U.S as refugees. These refugees were as a result of a 30-yesr Vietnam War, which was a long and costly war between North Vietnam communist government and the Viet Cong against the South Vietnam regime and its ally the U.S. “The war also produced a massive refugee population for whom the United States assumed historic responsibility” (Min, p. 264). During this period, there were laws that had abolished other Asian Immigrants from coming to the U.S such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. However, the Vietnamese refugees were not affected by these laws because they came into the U.S using different channels. They came into the U.S through the government’s resettlement plan for refugees from this war-torn region. 

An interesting fact is that most of these refugees during the first wave were the elite who were able and had the resources to escape the war. They entailed people from political families, those who were wealthy, and professionals. “This first wave consisted of refugees who were members of the social and political elites” (Lee, p. 178). This is a big difference from other Asian immigrants during the first period because they mainly composed of people from poor backgrounds who were seeking opportunities in the U.S to alleviate their families from poverty. Another difference is that in the third wave most immigrants from Asian countries are well-educated and professionals. However, the many Vietnamese immigrants in recent years are from rural areas mostly and entail people with less education. The trends have shifted from refugees to immigrants who are seeking better opportunities in the U.S in this period.

References

Min, Pyong Gap. Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues. 2nd ed. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2005.

Lee, Jonathan H. X. History of Asian Americans. 1st ed., Santa Barbara, California, Greenwood, 2015.