The Southeast Asians facing exile from the US to a land they've never known
They came to America as refugees, after losing everything in a CIA-led 'secret war' that ended in catastrophe. Now, decades later, members of the Laotian diaspora are facing another fight – this time against deportation.
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Across the
United States , Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have carried out a wave of detentions targeting communities who trace their roots back to
Laos . For many, a knock at the door now carries a chilling undertone.
'ICE's tactics have become more aggressive, unethical and inhumane,' Chanida Phaengdara Potter, founder of advocacy group the Southeast Asian Diaspora Project, told This Week in Asia.
'People are being detained and deported under the radar – often within 48 hours – without due process, without legal representation, and without a chance to fight for their right to stay.'
Federal law enforcement officers conduct an immigration raid in the US in February. Photo: The Denver Post/TNS
While much of the spotlight has been on deportations of Venezuelans and Salvadorans suspected of gang activity, less attention has been paid to the plight of Asian-Americans – particularly the estimated 250,000 people of Laotian descent who were granted rights to stay in the 1980s. Among them is the Hmong minority, a hill tribe recruited to fight in a covert US war to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.
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