Hmong say law maligns them

About 1,800 Central Valley Hmong packed the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium on Saturday, declaring they're patriots, even if the U.S. Patriot Act suggests they're terrorists, as they contend.

From Visalia, Fresno, Chico and Sacramento they came to applaud Hmong veterans who fought in the CIA's secret war in Laos and to ask their elected representatives to liberate them from what they say are the shackles of the Patriot Act.

An array of state and local officials heard how, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, refugees from Laos and Thai refugee camps are struggling to get green cards, driver's licenses, passports and, as a result, schooling and jobs.

"We the Hmong people are not terrorists and should not be labeled terrorists," said Noah Lor, the first Hmong city councilman from Merced. "So many of you still suffer from not being able to work and live peacefully in this country because of the Patriot Act."

Hmong aren't specifically listed as terrorists under the Patriot Act. Thousands of Hmong soldiers recruited by the CIA from 1961-75 to fight against the Vietnamese and Lao communists "may be classified as terrorists," said Srida Moua of Hmong National Development, a Hmong advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

More than 100 Hmong war veterans in the crowd Saturday and their families fall under the material support provision of the Patriot Act, Moua said.

"Terrorism's defined as an unlawful activity committed under the laws of the place where it's committed," Moua explained. "In the case of the Hmong, those who took up arms to fight alongside U.S. soldiers fall under this definition.

"A material supporter's a person who engages in terrorist activity by committing an act the actor knows or reasonably should know offers material support," Moua said.

Some 8,500 Hmong who fled from Laos to Thailand – and thousands more still hiding from the communists in the Lao jungles – may be barred from admission to the United States as refugees, Moua said – "if they are found to have provided 'material support.' "

And thousands of Hmong already here, including many of the 16,000 newcomers admitted from Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in 2004 and 2005, are having a hard time become permanent U.S. residents, said Zang Fang of the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center. "Over 4,000 applications are on hold because of material support."

One of those on hold is Ger Lor, 21, who arrived in Stockton two years ago. He's mastered English and is ready to further his education, "but I've been waiting five months for my green card," he said.

Immigration officials have estimated they have a backlog of 5 million green card applications that could take eight years to clear.

Several other Hmong spoke Saturday about their struggle to become permanent residents.

"I've been here since 1980 and always wanted to become a citizen," said Dang Vang of Stockton. "Years passed, and I finally learned my application has been denied. I love America. This is my place – please don't call us terrorists."

In October, the Department of Homeland Security exempted mothers and siblings who gave food, money, transportation and clothing to Hmong veterans from the material support provision, "but not for dad," Moua said.

Two bills in Congress, HR 2764 and HR 2940, could remove the material support cloud hanging over the Hmong.

Those laws can't come too soon for Rocky Vang, 54, who served in the CIA's secret army from 1969 until Laos fell in 1975.

"I've been worried about this a lot," said Vang, who helped organize a Sacramento contingent at Saturday's gathering that included four busloads and more than 100 private cars.

"We have a problem with the DMV holding the licenses of our kids until Homeland Security completes their investigation," Vang said.

The DMV requires legal permanent residence before issuing driver's licenses, said DMV Deputy Director Michael Marando.

Vang is also very concerned about the Hmong left behind.

"Right now I have more than 20 relatives and their families who served under Gen. Vang Pao's command hiding in the jungle," he said.

Yer Vang, and Ed and Georgia Szendrey of the Oroville-based Fact Finding Commission showed a gut-wrenching video of Hmong trapped in the jungle.

"We have 8,500 Hmong in refugee camps in Thailand faced with the possibility of being involved in a forced repatriation back to Laos with no international monitoring system," Georgia Szendrey said.

Those in the Laos jungles "want to surrender and live in peace," she said. "Over 80 percent of them are under 10 years old. We've had hundreds who've surrendered, and then go back" to the jungle to avoid persecution by the Lao communists.

Many Hmong were energized Saturday, noting that huge Hmong demonstrations this summer preceded the release, on bail, of Gen. Vang and a dozen other defendants charged with terrorism for allegedly plotting the overthrow of communist Laos.

"What action are you going to take tomorrow?" organizer Pao Vang asked Assembly members Cathleen Galgiani and Greg Aghazarian, and local congressional representatives who attended the rally. "We are your neighbors, we are your friends – give us your time frame for your actions."

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