The Vietnam War: The “Push Factor”

The Vietnam War was the climax of Western and Soviet tensions. Through a series of proxy wars, military funding, and economic competition, the Cold War would engulf the world from the time after WWII to the 1990’s. Vietnam was of particular importance because of how disastrous it was for the United States military.

The images of the United States losing this war with a much smaller nation is usually what is pushed in the news and throughout History, but the Vietnam War was unfortunately the reason thousands of Vietnamese natives were killed or displaced.

Programs For Southeast Asian Refugees

After the fall of Saigon, many Vietnamese refugees and their families fled to other countries for safety. From Thailand, Malaysia, and the Phillipines, to Canada, Australia, and the United States, Vietnamese refugees spread around the world. The United States had programs that would adjust Vietnamese people to life there.

One program that was very popular amongst all South East Asian refugees (Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese) were adult language classes. The aim for these classes was to help refugee adults learn how to speak English. Although these classes were for refugee adults, many of these classes were inaccessible and small in scope. These classes were primarily focused on “survival English.” This survival English were very basic sentences and phrases as well as minimal reading skills which were often taught by church volunteers who did not speak Vietnamese.

Another important program to South East Asian refugees in New Mexico is the program that caused many of them to move to New Mexico in the first place. The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act (IMRAA) of 1975 was one of the causes for why many Vietnamese refugees were in New Mexico. Besides helping refugees with basic needs like housing, clothing, and job placement, the IMRAA, also had a resettlement iniative that led to around 3,000 Vietnamese refugees moving to New Mexico.

Why New Mexico?

The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 (IMRAA) had an initiative that had many Vietnamese refugees move to different places throughout the United States. One of those places was New Mexico. While not having a lot in common with Vietnam geographically, New Mexico did have some things that made it a good location for Vietnamese refugees.

During the Vietnam War, many Catholics moved from the Communist controlled North, to the Southern parts of the country that were pro-Catholic. After the United States pulled its troops out of Vietnam, many South Vietnamese people fled to other countries. In those groups of people who left the South, many were Catholic. New Mexico has a high population of Catholic people and churches that were willing to help with getting Vietnamese people accustomed to the U.S.

Not only were many Vietnamese refugees religiously similar to the people who lived in NM during this time, New Mexico was also developing better infrastructure. Not only was there space for refugees in New Mexico, the United States government also planned to have communities of Vietnamese people in all 50 states to avoid overcrowding places like California and Texas. While these groups were planned to have groups across all states, one reason Vietnamese people had to be so spread out was to avoid having them be condensed and prevent ghettoism.

First Refugee Arrivals

Vietnamese refugees fleeing war and the Communist regime after the Vietnam War first arrived in New Mexico immediately after the fall of Saigon. In 1975, most of those who fled Vietnam and got to New Mexico were highly skilled workers or people who were close to the United States military. They got to New Mexico before other Vietnamese people because of access to planes, helicopters, and boats.

After the initial wave of Vietnamese refugees across the United States, New Mexico began to recieve more refugees in the 1980’s. Many of these refugees are referred to as “boat people” because they escaped Vietnam through boats and made their way to the United States through less orthodox methods. The journey to the United States was difficult as many refugees piled onto boats in search of a safer life than Vietnam.

Vietnamese Life in New Mexico

Once these Vietnamese refugees arrived in New Mexico, they were offered adult language classes to learn how to communicate in English. Most of these classes taught “survival English” which was only a few basic phrases for rough communication between Vietnamese refugees and English speaking people.

Some of the first jobs that were immediately available for Vietnamese refugees were manual labor, service jobs, and small family businesses like restaurants and nail salons. Once Vietnamese people in New Mexico secured jobs, they built tight-knit communities that helped each other. Many Vietnamese people came together to help out relatives and other Vietnamese refugees to help them adapt to living in the United States.

Health Issues and Challenges

Being forcibly removed from their homeland led to many physical and mental conditions that would effect the way that Vietnamese people lived their lives in New Mexico. For one, fleeing a country that was the sight of major battles left many Vietnamese people with conditions like PTSD. These conditions, while managable, created some distinct differences between Vietnamese refugees and people who were already living in the United States before.

Besides mental health, Vietnamese people were also unique in the way that they are approached for analysis and research. There are places in New Mexico where Vietnamese people gather to not only enjoy some time and spend money, but as a place to gather with those who have the same cultural background as themselves. Since many Vietnamese refugees stuck close to their communities, there were some interesting research studies that targeted them in their fun spaces.

Vietnamese Perseverance and Identity

Overall, Vietnamese refugees are another story of perseverance. From a homeland full of war and violence, to a completely new place with different customs, languages, and experiences, Vietnamese people worked hard to create a new home away from their original one.

Vietnamese people in New Mexico also have an interesting history because New Mexico is not the first location for many people who are looking for a place to live in the United States. New Mexico is different geographically and culturally to Vietnam, and yet thousands of Vietnamese people made it their homes after the fall of Saigon. Their experiences mirror the experiences of other Asian American groups from a hundred years before. Vietnamese people in New Mexico are not just a group of people who come for a better life, they are neighbors, community members, and family members and are a shining beacon of perseverance and cultural preservation.

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Sources:

-https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2291&context=nma

-Kelly, G. P. (1978). ADULT EDUCATION FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES: COMMENTARY ON PLURALISM IN AMERICA. The Journal of Ethnic Studies, 5(4), 55. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/adult-education-vietnamese-refugees-commentary-on/docview/1300556413/se-2

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https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fes-vietnamese-community-looks-back-50-years-after-fall-of-saigon/article_44930a6a-91f9-4098-9e45-2176351b90aa.html

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