For many Hmong, both in the United States and in refugee camps halfway across the world, the future is in question. Hmong refugees in Thailand, who have been living in camps since before most of us were born, currently are not allowed in the United States, and those who are here trying to establish permanent residency are having difficulty doing so because of the Patriot and Real ID Acts.
Why are the Hmong having so many problems with political asylum? The Hmong took part in and supported terrorism in Laos, and terrorists and those who assist in conducting terrorism are not welcome in the United States — even if the Americans recruited the Hmong to fight against the Laotian government.
When the CIA began recruiting the Hmong in 1961, they were some of the few friends we had in Southeast Asia, let alone people who would fight to stop the spread of communism. The Hmong, a minority in the mountainous areas of Laos and Southeast Asia, were our ground forces against the communist Laotian government. The Hmong fought our proxy war against Laos as Americans fought in Vietnam.
When the CIA stopped supporting Hmong fighters in 1975, they only evacuated the top Hmong officials. Most Hmong were deserted. As a result, Hmong people living in Laos were persecuted and had to hide out in the mountains of southern Laos or flee across the Mekong River to Thailand to live in refugee camps. In essence, Hmong were used by the American government and then left to fend for themselves.
Despite the fact that our government deserted these people, they have been allowed to flee to the United States as asylum seekers in various waves since 1975, the most recent being in summer 2004. Congress even eased some of the restrictions on former Hmong fighters with the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000. Almost 170,000 Hmong have immigrated to the United States, according to the U.S. Census and more than 33,000 live in Wisconsin. Now, however, the status of many in the United States and those still left in Thailand and Laos are in question. While the Hmong look at themselves as freedom fighters for an American cause, post-9/11 legislation will not allow those who commit or support terrorism into the United States, even if they only cooked and housed their families who fought for the Americans.
The Hmong population in the United States is less than 1 percent. Many Americans would ask, well, who cares? Most of them are here, why bother with legislation to amend the Patriot Act? We have too many other problems in our country, such as Iraq, to keep us busy.
The United States does owe it to the Hmong people after using them and then leaving them to fight for themselves. We can say the same for other ethnic groups around the world that have been a pawn of American foreign policy: the Kurds in Northern Iraq, dissidents in Iran, the mujahadeen in the Soviet-Afghan War, the Albanians in Kosovo and those who currently are fighting to expel an Islamic government in Somalia, to name a few. None of these groups are totally innocent, but neither is the American government. While we should not let individuals who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity into the United States, we owe it these groups to help them escape from governments that will persecute them because they helped the Americans.
There needs to be a balance between those who should not be let into our country because they are a danger to the American people and those who worked on behalf of the Americans. With current federal law, Jalal Talabani and Hamid Karzai, the presidents of Iraq and Afghanistan respectively, would not be allowed as refugees into the United States. If the Patriot Act disqualifies them as well as nullifies previous legislation for the Hmong, who is going to be willing to be an ally in the global war on terror? Who will be our friend if our previous friends were used and left out in the desert or jungle?
Currently, the Bush administration is looking at implementing waivers for groups such as Burmese refugees who have fought against the military government in Myanmar. The administration also needs to implement waivers for other groups such as the Hmong, who have fought on behalf of the United States. We must also strike a balance between terrorists who want to harm Americans and those who fought for us. We have few friends left in the world and not allowing those who have helped us in the past will discourage anyone from helping us in the present and future.
Jeff Carnes ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in linguistics.
