Why hmong people came to america

Alexander Kueng, was charged with aiding and abetting murder Wednesday. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder after being elevated from third-degree. Paul, remains home to the largest concentration of Hmong in the U.

Thao, who was born in a refugee camp and grew up in North Minneapolis, explained that she, along with many other Hmong Americans, live and work alongside black communities. We share the collective struggle as young people trying to fight the odds stacked up against us because of where we come from. Lee himself is familiar with such struggle.

He also came to the U. While images of wealthy, Ivy League graduates remain as the prevailing Asian trope, the Hmong American story proves the inaccuracies in the stereotype, demonstrating that the privileges that are enjoyed by some Asian American groups cannot be applied to all, Quyen Dinh, the executive director of the nonprofit Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, explained. According to a report released by the organization, almost 60 percent of Hmong Americans are considered low-income, and more than 1 in 4 live in poverty.

The statistics make them the demographic that fares the worst, in comparison to all racial groups, across multiple measures of income, the report said. When looking at the general population, the official poverty rate in was Hmong Americans have public health insurance enrollment rates similar to African Americans at 39 percent and 38 percent respectively. It's a stark contrast from the national average at 13 percent. Much fighting occurred along this trail and the surrounding regions in Laos.

But our military efforts there were not publicized to avoid international criticism. So we pretended that nothing was happening in Laos, while North Vietnamese troops were actively helping the Pathet Lao take over the country, and while thousands of poorly-equipped Hmong were fighting a war against terrible odds.

Many Hmong lives would be lost in the unpublicized battles of Laos. The Hmong apparently were told that they could bravely fight for the U. It was a relationship of trust, but Hmong trust in the US would be sadly misplaced.

Significant battles occurred as the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao occupied major areas in northern Laos in Meanwhile, the US began a secret air war in Laos.

By , US pilots would be doing dangerous sorties a day to battle many thousands of Communist troops. Hmong soldiers rescued many American pilots who were shot down. Sometimes dozens of Hmong would die in order to rescue one American pilot. Over Hmong pilots were recruited and trained by the US, and they ran mission after mission until they were all killed.

Hmong courage seemed to know no bounds in the fight for freedom. But sadly, much of the fighting seems to have been in vain. Years after the war, when the infamous "Pentagon Papers" were published, shocked Americans and Hmong patriots would learn that much of the war was fought by the United States under secret rules that we agreed to that almost guaranteed the fall of South Vietnam to the Communists.

Just as the Hmong were told to only fight defensively and not to take steps that could directly throw the North Vietnamese out of their country, so too were U. For example, US pilots were not allowed to attack Viet Cong anti-aircraft installations until they were fully functional. Though hotly debated, many are convinced that the war could have been won by cutting off supplies to the North Vietnamese and hitting them in the regions where they were most vulnerable -- something that was forbidden by our rules of engagement.

Instead, American soldiers died unnecessarily in jungle skirmishes that gave an upper hand to those familiar with the territory. The loss of 60, American lives for a no-win war in Vietnam was a tragedy to the huge nation of America, but it was a relatively small percentage of the nation compared to the loss the Hmong people suffered. In , at the time when Congress first learned of our secret war in Laos, about 18, Hmong soldiers had already been killed in battle died, and many women and children had died as well.

The Hmong were taking a great risk in boldly fighting for the United States, trusting that we would stand by them. But in , the U. By , Laos had fallen completely into Communist hands, and the lives of all Hmong people who helped fight the Communists were in jeopardy. Keown-Bomar, Julie. Thorough sociological study of Hmong immigrants. Mote, Sue Murphy. Jefferson, N. Another collection of Hmong immigrant narratives. Parrillo, Vincent. Strangers to These Shores.

General treatment of race and ethnic relations with a section on Laotian immigration that emphasizes Hmong immigrants. Schaefer, Richard T. Racial and Ethnic Groups. Upper Saddle River, N. General textbook on American ethnic groups that includes a case study of a Hmong community in Wausau, Wisconsin. Sherman, Spencer. Well-illustrated description of Hmong communities in North Carolina and California. Subversive and radical political movements. Toggle navigation Immigration to the United States.

Add to site Sign up. Home » Immigrant groups » Hmong immigrants. Hmong immigrants. Getty Images The Hmong people have no significant history of immigration to the United States before A—Z index. Immigration to the United States. Random publication.