[Tlc] TL-Hmong

[justinm at ucr.edu]

2007-0914 - Star Tribune - Senate action is good news for the
Hmong community

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1421961.html

StarTribune.com

Senate action is good news for the Hmong community

Amending a law that mislabeled Hmong as terrorists was a
"solution to this injustice.'' The bill now moves to the House.

By Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune

Last update: September 13, 2007 – 9:42 PM
Ilean Her's uncle fought on behalf of the U.S. government in
Laos during the Vietnam War, but he is considered a terrorist
under federal legislation that Her hopes is on the verge of
being changed.

On Thursday night, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment that
would modify a provision in the Real ID Act that broadened the
definition of a terrorist to inadvertently include the Hmong.

The anti-terrorism provision meant that Hmong who fought in
Southeast Asia were having a hard time getting U.S.
citizenship applications and green cards, community leaders
said. And it made it next to impossible to bring family
members who had fought in the war to the United States, Her said.

"It's been a big issue in the Hmong community and within our
family," said Her, executive director of the Council on Asian
Pacific Minnesotans. "My uncle [in Thailand] is our last
remaining great-uncle, and he's probably in his 70s. We want
to bring him here."

The Senate action, she said, is good news for the entire
community.

The terrorism language was modified in an amendment written by
Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in the 2008 Senate
Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which was approved
Thursday night.

The bill now moves to a conference committee in the U.S. House.

"They [the Hmong] have looked to the U.S. as a place of hope
and a sanctuary from persecution," Coleman said, "and with the
passage of this amendment, we can finally move ahead on a
solution to this injustice."

A similar stand-alone bill was introduced in the House in June
and was sent to a subcommittee of the House Judiciary
Committee, said Bryan Collinsworth, press secretary for
Minnesota Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, who was a co-sponsor
of the bill.

Minnesota's Hmong community is hoping this is the beginning of
the end of their struggle to reclaim their rightful status in
history and to continue reuniting their families.

Michael Yang, the Twin Cities-based chairman of the National
Association for Hmong Justice, said overturning the terrorist
provision has been one of the key public policy issues for the
Hmong community nationally.

"It put a lot of roadblocks on people's applications for
citizenship and for permanent residency, including the recent
arrivals from Thailand," he said. "Most importantly, it
created a public perception that we are terrorists."

Other refugee groups were affected, too, Yang said, such as
the ethnic Montagnards of Vietnam, who also were U.S. allies
in Southeast Asia.

The Senate amendment was part of a larger bill funding foreign
aid and U.S. diplomacy.

Coleman acknowledged that the bill faces a veto threat by
President Bush, for issues unrelated to the Hmong changes.

"At the end of the day, I am confident that we will obtain a
legislative solution to this problem that will be signed into
law," Coleman said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jean
Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511

Jean Hopfensperger • hopfen at startribune.com

© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu