History of Asian Americans - Brittany Le - Christine Sivilay - Mollie Frager

The comparison of how Vietnamese refugees were treated during the Vietnam war to other refugees around the world today UNWANTED REFUGEES

Vietnemese refugees were transported to the Philippines and Guam before arriving to the United States. Vietnamese refugees lost their home due to the war, but as they were in the process of transportation by the US military, they were unable to find a new home for a while.

Vietnamese refugees In the text, Militarized Refuge(es) by Yen Le Espiritu, highlights how US colonialism turned the Philippines and Guam into "ideal" receiving centers of the US rescuing projects during the Vietnam War. These rescue projects projected the US military as saviors to the Vietnamese by saving them from communism taking over Vietnam. Vietnamese refugees were transferred to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. Approximately more than 30,000 refugees and over 1,500 orphans were brought to the base by military aircrafts. Due to the over flow of refugees, the Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos informed the US ambassador that the country would not accept any more Vietnamese refugees. The US needed to find a new area to relocate the refugees, therefore they turned to Guam. Due to Guam's limited resources, it was hard to house the refugees. The Vietnamese refugees were not supposed to linger on Guam. They were supposed to be processed immediately. However, some US states initially refused to accept the refugees or postponed the arrival date, in part because of a lack of planning and proper facilities but also because of adverse reactions by the public and strong opposition by state officials to the influx of refugees.