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Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Office, 1975–1986

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Black and white photograph of a Hmong Celebration, Frogtown, 1993. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.

Hmong Celebration, Frogtown (St. Paul), 1993. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.

Between 1975 and 1986, about 750,000 refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos resettled in the U.S. They passed through two initiatives: the Refugee Parole Program and the Orderly Departure Program. Voluntary agencies, sponsors, and programs managed by the Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Office offered help. As a result, Minnesota was one of ten states that accepted the largest numbers of refugees.

The Indochinese Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 (and following amendments) allowed Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees to enter the U.S. It also established the Indochinese Refugee Assistance Program (IRAP). The IRAP allowed refugees to access local services that were distributed through the state and fully reimbursed by the federal government.

According to Governor Wendell Anderson, the state of Minnesota had received the largest number of Southeast Asian refugees in the Midwest as of October 1975. Although Anderson acknowledged the efforts of Minnesota’s voluntary social agencies, he wanted to address longer-term resettlement issues, standardize refugee assistance, and offer follow-up services to refugees after their arrival.

In December 1975, Anderson established an Indochinese Resettlement Office. This became the Refugee Programs Office in 1981. It coordinated the efforts of federal and voluntary agencies, such as the Lutheran Social Services, Church World Service, Catholic Charities, and American Red Cross Minnesota Area Chapter. Families, church groups, and community organizations, such as the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota and the Lao Association of Mutual Association, Inc., participated in the resettlement process. They sponsored refugee families and helped them adjust to their new homes.

Anderson also created an Indochinese Refugee Task Force to advise the Governor’s Office. It included representatives from social service organizations; the Vietnamese-American Association; the Cambodian refugee community; the Departments of Welfare, Employment Services, and Education; the Governor’s Manpower Office; and the private sector.

The task force had two primary functions. First, it collected data about the Southeast Asian households in the state. Second, it provided information about classes, programs, and recent laws to the refugee community. For example, the Task Force conducted a statewide questionnaire in 1977. It also published a newsletter, Minnesota New Life, in English, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Lao.

The Refugee Act of 1980 marked a turning point in both immigration policy and refugee assistance. Because the refugee admissions and resettlement processes were ad hoc, policymakers aimed to create a more comprehensive refugee policy. They sought to give Congress more control over the admissions of refugees into the U.S. Legislators also wanted to make resettlement more efficient and consistent.

The act established a permanent Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), officially appointed a U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, and formalized the process of channeling federal aid to refugees for a period of thirty-six months. The ORR was authorized to use funds for cash, medical aid, and social services, and to reimburse state and local public agencies directly or through contracts.

Along these lines, the Minnesota Refugee Programs Office negotiated contracts with various agencies, charities, and church groups in Minneapolis/Hennepin County. It organized refugee-specific job-creation projects, including the Hennepin County Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), the Refugee Work/Training section, and the F. V. S. (Vietnamese M. A. A.) Employment Project. Although many refugees still needed employment, these projects served an estimated 1,478 refugee residents in Hennepin County, with 898 job placements by 1982. Special programs targeted unaccompanied minors and youth, since the demographics of Southeast Asian refugees were relatively young. Two thirds of the refugee population in St. Paul was under age twenty one.

Despite the considerable success of these programs, the Refugee Program Office and caseworkers recognized that Southeast Asian refugees faced multiple challenges as newcomers, including racial discrimination in their neighborhoods, hiring bias, and language barriers. The lack of jobs and American neighbors’ hostile attitudes sometimes forced the refugees’ “secondary migration” to other cities. They gathered in rural and coastal areas where there were more farming and fishing jobs and larger Southeast Asian communities. The Refugee Programs Office and voluntary agencies tried to address these barriers to employment with language and job training programs.

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Freeman, James M. Changing Identities: Vietnamese Americans 1975–1995. Needham Heights, MA: Pearson, 1996.

IHRC2968
Hmong Resettlement Study, ca. 1970–1999
Immigration History Research Center and Archives, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
http://archives.ihrc.umn.edu/vitrage/all/ra/ihrc2968.html
Description: Interviews with Hmong refugees, Hmong leaders, American social workers from the Lutheran Social Services and Lao Family Community center, and other community members who worked directly with refugees in the Twin Cities. See box 16, folder 19.

Kennedy, Edward M. “Refugee Act of 1980.” International Migration Review 15, no. 1/2. Refugees Today (Spring-Summer 1981): 141–156.

Kumin, Judith. “Orderly Departure from Vietnam: Cold War Anomaly or Humanitarian Innovation?” Refugee Survey Quarterly 27, no. 1 (2008): 104–117.

Minnesota Historical Society. Becoming Minnesotan: Stories of Recent Immigrants and Refugees, Hmong.
http://education.mnhs.org/immigration/communities/hmong

Office of Refugee Resettlement, An Office of the Administration for Children and Families. "The Refugee Act." August 29, 2012.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resource/the-refugee-act

Public Welfare Department, Refugee Programs Office, 1975–1986
Minnesota Department of Public Welfare, Refugee Program Office
State Archives Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr00690.xml
Description: Included are history files on the development of general and health programs and on the Governor's Indochinese Resettlement Office, compiled by various staff members. Of particular use during the writing of this article were a memo written by Governor Albert H. Quie and dated May 15, 1979; a letter from Governor Wendell R. Anderson to Richard Friedman, Regional Director of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and dated November 4, 1974; a letter from Friedman to Anderson dated July 31, 1975; “Statewide Indochinese Demographic Data for General Planning Purposes, 1976–1977”; Minnesota New Life 2, no. 12 (Spring 1980); a letter from the Department of Public Welfare to Eddie A. Calderon, President of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Islanders [Minneapolis] dated December 17, 1982; the correspondence of Sandra DuVander, 1981–1983; The Hmong in St. Paul: A Culture in Transition, May 1980 (MAENA Files, Reports/Studies, Newsletters); and Glenn Hendricks’ “Indochinese Refugee Settlement Patterns in Minnesota, 1981.”

Silverman, Edwin B. “Indochina Legacy: The Refugee Act of 1980.” Publius 10, no. 1 (Winter 1980): 27–41.

The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 [H.R. 6755]: An Act to Enable the United States to Render Assistance to, or in Behalf of, Certain Migrants and Refugees. Public Law 94-23. U.S. Statutes At Large 89 (May 23, 1975): 87–88.

United States Congress. Senate. The Refugee Act of 1980: An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the procedures for the admission of refugees to amend the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 to establish a more uniform basis for the provision of assistance to refugees, and for other purposes. March 17, 1980. Public Law-96-212. 96th Congress, First Session. S. Report, 96–590. U.S. Statutes 94 (1980): 102–118.

Wright, Robert G. “Voluntary Agencies and the Resettlement of Refugees.” The International Migration Review 15, no. 1/2, Refugees Today (Spring–Summer, 1981): 157–174.

Zucker, Norman L. “Refugee Resettlement in the United States: Policy and Problems.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 467. The Global Refugee Problem: U. S. and World Response (May 1983): 172–186.

Related Images

Black and white photograph of a Hmong Celebration, Frogtown, 1993. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of a Hmong Celebration, Frogtown, 1993. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of Indochinese refugees arriving in Iowa, 1979.
Black and white photograph of Indochinese refugees arriving in Iowa, 1979.
Scan of a documents showing Indochinese Refugee Households in the Twin City Metro Area, December 1980.
Scan of a documents showing Indochinese Refugee Households in the Twin City Metro Area, December 1980.
Black and white photograph of staff at Lao Family Community, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, 1981.
Black and white photograph of staff at Lao Family Community, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, 1981.
Black and white photograph of a man Playing the Kheng, Frogtown, 1994. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of a man Playing the Kheng, Frogtown, 1994. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of Hmong women in traditional costume, Frogtown, 1993. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of Hmong women in traditional costume, Frogtown, 1993. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of Hmong Families, Frogtown, 1994. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of Hmong Families, Frogtown, 1994. Photograph by Wing Young Huie.
Black and white photograph of a woman driving a car with a child in the backseat, with accompanying quote, by Jane Kramer, 2004. From collection, "Photographs and Stories of Refugee Women: Perseverance, Dignity, Strength, Hope, and Peace."
Black and white photograph of a woman driving a car with a child in the backseat, with accompanying quote, by Jane Kramer, 2004. From collection, "Photographs and Stories of Refugee Women: Perseverance, Dignity, Strength, Hope, and Peace."
Black and white photograph of a woman sitting on the floor with two young children, with accompanying quote, by Jane Kramer, 2004. From collection, "Photographs and Stories of Refugee Women: Perseverance, Dignity, Strength, Hope, and Peace."
Black and white photograph of a woman sitting on the floor with two young children, with accompanying quote, by Jane Kramer, 2004. From collection, "Photographs and Stories of Refugee Women: Perseverance, Dignity, Strength, Hope, and Peace."

Turning Point

Congress approves the Refugee Act of 1980, creating the Office of Refugee Resettlement. This act formalizes the processes of admitting refugees, including Southeast Asian refugees, into the U.S. and disbursing cash assistance, medical aid, and social services to refugee families.

Chronology

April 1975

Saigon, the capitol of South Vietnam, falls to Communist forces from the north. The U.S. receives the first large wave of refugee immigration from Southeast Asia as a result of the Vietnam War.

May 1975

The Indochinese Migration and Refugee Assistance Act permits the entry of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees into the U.S. and establishes the Indochinese Refugee Assistance Program (IRAP).

December 1975

The Minnesota Governor’s Indochinese Resettlement Office and the Indochinese Refugee Task Force are established to coordinate the resettlement of incoming Southeast Asian refugees.

1976

In June, an amendment to the Indochinese Migration and Refugee Assistance Act extends aid to refugees from Laos.

1977

The Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Program is transferred to the Public Welfare Department as the Minnesota Indochinese Resettlement Office in October.

1979

In May, the Orderly Departure Program (ODP) is negotiated between the UNHCR, the Vietnamese government, and the U.S. government.

1980

The Refugee Act of 1980 is passed in March. The act establishes the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

1981

The name of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is changed to the Refugee Program Office.