Honor Our Commitment Act of 2020

From April–September 1975, the United States conducted Operation New Arrival to relocate 130,000 Vietnamese refugees to the United States following the end of the Vietnam War.

During this time, more than 50,000 Vietnamese refugees were processed through Camp Pendleton for Southern California.

In the 4 decades since refugees fled Vietnam, Vietnamese Americans have weaved their stories into the American fabric.

The biggest concentration of Vietnamese American is in Orange County, California, followed by San Jose (California), Houston (Texas), Seattle (Washington), Northern Virginia, and New Orleans (Louisiana).

According to the 2010 census, Vietnamese is the 6th most commonly spoken language in the United States.

Immigrant communities face significant problems assimilating as a result of the trauma of war. A 2018 study published by Rashmi Gangamma and Daran Shipman in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy noted that “the traumatic nature of (immigrant’s) forced displacement flight, and resettlement can increase vulnerability to mental distress.”. First generation immigrants are especially vulnerable to gang violence within communities in which their parents cannot guide with cultural or political comfortability.

In 2008, the United States and Vietnam signed a bilateral repatriation agreement, hereafter known as the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

According to Section 2, Article 2 of the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU, “Vietnamese citizens are not subject to return to Vietnam under this Agreement if they arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995, the date on which diplomatic relations were re-established between the U.S. Government and the Vietnamese Government. The U.S. Government and the Vietnamese Government maintain their respective legal positions relative to Vietnamese citizens who departed Vietnam for the United States prior to that date”.

The United States under President George Bush and President Barack Obama recognized the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU’s protection for pre-1995 refugees from deportation.

In 2019, President Trump’s Administration began to renegotiate the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU to expand the categories of immigrants it could deport, including permanent residents who have committed certain minor crimes and others who came to the United States as children after the Vietnam War.

In February 2018, Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta filed a class action lawsuit in the name of Orange County resident Hoang Trinh and six other refugees who all came to the U.S. before the 1995 date and became legal permanent residents. Due to criminal convictions, they all lost their green cards, making them subject to deportation. Under the 2008 Vietnam-U.S. MOU, they should be protected from deportation. The refugees were held in prolonged detention in violation of a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting overlong detention.

In August 2018, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney ruled that the plaintiffs in the class action presented a plausible claim that the government is now not abiding by a “longstanding practice of not removing pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants and by the 2008 diplomatic agreement.”.

Deferral of removal— Except as provided in subsection (b), an alien may not be removed for the 24-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act if the alien—

Deferral not applicable to certain aliens— Subsection (a) shall not apply to an alien if—

Employment authorization— Upon application to the Secretary of Homeland Security, an alien whose removal is deferred pursuant to this Act—

Implementation— The Secretary of Homeland Security shall take the necessary steps to implement—

In general— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide notice of the provisions of this Act to each alien who—

Contents of notice— The notice required under subsection (a) shall include clear instructions explaining the requirements for an alien to file a motion to reopen a proceeding under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) based on changed country conditions.

Review— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an individual or entity who has been harmed by a violation of this Act may file an action in an appropriate district court of the United States to seek declaratory or injunctive relief.

Rule of construction— Nothing in this Act may be construed to preclude an action filed pursuant to subsection (a) from proceeding as a class action (as such term is defined in section 1711 of title 28, United States Code).