President Donald Trump has no shame when it comes to his non-stop efforts to demonize immigrants.
The Atlantic reported last week that the Trump administration is renewing its early efforts to deport thousands of Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades — many of them having fled the country while at risk of becoming political prisoners during the Vietnam War .
It’s despicable that the president attacks immigrants who enrich and strengthen American society, who viewed this country as a beacon of hope and have worked to maintain it as a model for freedom and democracy.
Then Trump doubles down, as he has with immigrants from Latin America, by trying to brand the Vietnamese immigrants as threats to the United States. Katie Waldman, a spokesman for the administration said, “It’s a priority of this administration to remove criminal aliens to their home country.”
Of course, any of the Vietnamese immigrants who committed serious crimes should be deported. But the vast majority of those being targeted for deportations were guilty of minor infractions, such as marijuana possession or driving under the influence in their youth. San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren, an expert on immigration issues, believes they stand a serious chance of being persecuted if forced to return. Their only real “crime” was, in the eyes of the Vietnamese government was siding with the United States during the Vietnam War.
The issue revolves around a 2008 U.S.-Vietnam agreement that forbids the United States from deporting Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the United States before 1995 — the year that the two countries re-established diplomatic relations. The pact was signed by a Republican president, George W. Bush, who recognized its political and humanitarian value.
In 2017, Trump offered an interpretation of the agreement arguing that any Vietnamese immigrant convicted of a crime was not protected and should be deported. His administration began rounding up and detaining an estimated 8,000 immigrants who had been living in the United States for nearly two decades.
The decision infuriated the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius, who was appointed to what he called his “dream position” during the Obama administration. Osius refused to press Vietnam to accept the deportations, saying he “feared many would become human rights cases, and our government would be culpable.”
The Trump administration backed away from the deportation efforts last fall after U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney ruled that the immigrants had a good case. But now the Trump is renewing the push.
The strategy is not only horrific on political and humanitarian grounds. It also undermines efforts to build trade relations with Vietnam and improve its abysmal human rights record. Since Trump became president, the Vietnamese government has backed away from the idea of permitting independent trade unions, eliminating child labor and easing internet restrictions. It has also cracked down on political dissent.
Building trust is an essential component to establishing lasting relationships in the world. That means adhering to long-established agreements made in good faith for the good of all parties. President Trump is not being honest with the American people about the threat posed by the 8,000 Vietnamese immigrants in question. His approach is an insult to those immigrants and to all 523,000 people born in Vietnam who are now proud to call California their home.
— The Mercury News