BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SJR 5 (Nguyen)
Version: March 19, 2015
Hearing Date: April 14, 2015
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
TH
SUBJECT
Vietnam: Humanitarian Resettlement
DESCRIPTION
This measure would urge the President and Vice President of the
United States and the United States Congress to expand the
Humanitarian Resettlement Program to allow disabled veterans of
the South Vietnamese Army currently living in the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam to enter the United States.
BACKGROUND
Following the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from
Vietnam in 1975, thousands of Vietnamese citizens who had
maintained a close association with the United States during the
war became subject to human rights abuses at the hands of the
Vietnamese government. The punitive policies of Vietnamese
officials prompted hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese citizens
to flee the country, often by perilous trips across open ocean
in small boats. In order to help control the exodus of
migrants, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
the government of Vietnam entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding in 1979 that established the Orderly Departure
Program. This multilateral program created a safe, ordered, and
legal means for refugees to leave Vietnam and travel to
receiving countries, rather than escape clandestinely by boat.
Under the program, Vietnamese citizens were deemed eligible for
entry into the United States if they fell within any of these
three categories: (1) applicants with family members of persons
already in the U.S.; (2) applicants who are former employees of
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the U.S. government; or (3) applicants closely associated or
identified with the U.S. presence in Vietnam before 1975. (See
Refugee Program: The Orderly Departure Program from Vietnam
(Apr. 1990), NSIAD-90-137 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. General
Accounting Office).) The Orderly Departure Program operated for
approximately 25 years before it was closed to new applications
in September 1994.
In November 2005, the governments of the U.S. and Vietnam
established a bilateral humanitarian resettlement process called
the Humanitarian Resettlement Program. This program established
three categories of eligibility for resettlement of Vietnamese
citizens who may have been eligible for resettlement under the
earlier Orderly Departure Program: (1) direct-hire employees of
the U.S. with five or more years of verified employment; (2)
direct-hire employees of private U.S. companies or organizations
with five or more years of verified employment; or (3) certain
individuals who spent at least one year in a re-education center
as a result of their close association with the U.S. government
prior to April 30, 1975. (See Joint U.S. - Vietnamese
Announcement of Humanitarian Resettlement Program (Nov. 15,
2005), U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs
[as of
March 25, 2015].) The Humanitarian Resettlement Program
accepted applications for resettlement from Vietnamese citizens
over a two-year period that ended on June 25, 2008. The U.S.
State Department estimated that it would resettle approximately
1,000 individuals under this program, and that it had resettled
approximately 900,000 Vietnamese citizens to the U.S. under
various programs since 1975. (Fact Sheet: Refugee Admissions
Program for East Asia (Feb. 6, 2009), U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
[as of March 25, 2015].)
Both the Orderly Departure Program and the Humanitarian
Resettlement Program restricted resettlement eligibility for
certain applicants to those who had spent a set length of time
in a re-education center. Some Vietnamese citizens who were
disabled in the war and consequently not sent to re-education
centers fell outside the eligibility criteria for resettlement
under these programs. This resolution would urge the President
and Vice President of the United States and the United States
Congress to expand the Humanitarian Resettlement Program to
allow disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army currently
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living in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to enter the United
States.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
This measure would make the following statements:
the Vietnamese-American community plays an important role in
the social, cultural, and economic landscape of the State of
California and the United States;
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's human rights violations
and corrupt judicial system have resulted in the incarceration
of peaceful dissidents without due process;
despite the renewal of diplomatic relations between the United
States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1995, and the
launching of the United States-Vietnam Comprehensive
Partnership in July 2013, significant human rights violations
continue to persist;
the Global Network for Rights and Development's 2014
International Human Rights Rank Indicator ranks the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam as one of the 15 countries who are the
worst offenders of human rights in the world;
the United States government and the American people have a
commitment to assisting individuals that fought as allies in
the Vietnam War and continue to face persecution and threats
from the Communist government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam;
the veterans of the South Vietnamese Army, also known as the
Qu[n Lñc ViÇt Nam CÙng Hòa, showed their commitment to the
United States by fighting alongside the United States Armed
Forces during the Vietnam War and have suffered greatly since
April 30, 1975;
the Humanitarian Resettlement Program, also known as the
Orderly Departure Program, has allowed for the resettlement to
the United States of former re-education center detainees,
former Vietnamese employees of the United States government,
and former Vietnamese employees of private American companies
and organizations prior to April 30, 1975;
disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army have suffered a
lifetime of great challenges and discrimination. Yet, disabled
veterans were excluded from the Humanitarian Resettlement
Program because they were not detained in re-education camps
for the requisite number of years due to their physical
disabilities;
thousands of disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army,
also known as the Qu[n Lñc ViÇt Nam CÙng Hòa, and their
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families are still living in the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam, facing continued persecution from the government,
including a lack of access to jobs, housing, and education;
April 30, 2015, marks the 40th year since the Fall of Saigon;
and
amending the Humanitarian Resettlement Program, also known as
the Orderly Departure Program, to include disabled veterans of
the South Vietnamese Army, also known as the Qu[n Lñc ViÇt Nam
CÙng Hòa, would rightfully bring these veterans into a program
that was meant to include them but inadvertently left them
out.
This measure would urge the President and Vice President of the
United States and the United States Congress to expand the
Humanitarian Resettlement Program to allow disabled veterans of
the South Vietnamese Army currently living in the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam to enter the United States.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
The author writes:
This joint resolution calls upon the United States Government
to include disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army into
the Humanitarian Resettlement Program in order to allow them
to safely relocate to the United States. These disabled
veterans were excluded under the original Humanitarian
Resettlement Program because they did not spend the required
length of time in re-education centers of at least one year
prior to April 30, 1975. Due to their disabled status, these
veterans did not spend the same length of time in re-education
centers, but they have continued to live under political
persecution while suffering basic human rights violations by
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the past 40 years.
?
This bill seeks to correct an oversight by including a group
of political refugees into a federal resettlement program that
has successfully resettled more than one million Vietnamese to
the United States over the past forty years, with
approximately 580,000 Vietnamese Americans living in
California.
SJR 5 (Nguyen)
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2. Recognition of Human Rights in California
Since its founding in 1850, the State of California has
recognized that all people, by their nature, have certain
unalienable rights. California's current Constitution, adopted
by the people in 1879, recognized, among others, the right of
"every citizen [to] freely speak, write and publish his [or her]
sentiments, on all subjects," to the "free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession," and "to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
seizures and searches." (See Cal. Const. of 1879, art. I, Secs.
4, 9, and 19.). Since that time, California has continuously
expanded its understanding of the rights held by its citizens to
include such things as "pursuing and obtaining . . . privacy,"
"the right of access to information concerning the conduct of
the people's business," and even in some circumstances "the
right to fish upon and from the public lands of the State."
(See Cal. Const., art. I, Secs. 1, 3, and 25.).
California's statutory law is similarly replete with provisions
recognizing the inherent rights of its residents. The Unruh
Civil Rights Act, for example, states that:
All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and
equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition,
genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation are
entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages,
facilities, privileges, or services in all business
establishments of every kind whatsoever. (Civ. Code Sec. 51.)
The Ralph Civil Rights Act provides that all persons within the
jurisdiction of the state have the right to be free from any
violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed
against their persons or property because of personal or other
characteristics or statuses, such as political affiliation, sex,
race, color, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or
position in a labor dispute. (Civ. Code Sec. 51.7.) Similarly,
the Bane Civil Rights Act provides remedies against those who
interfere by threat, intimidation, or coercion, with the
exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or
laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the
Constitution or laws of the State of California. (Civ. Code
Sec. 52.1.)
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This resolution follows California's rich history of recognizing
and preserving the inalienable rights of all people. By urging
the United States government to reauthorize the Orderly
Departure and Humanitarian Resettlement programs for disabled
veterans of the South Vietnamese Army, California reaffirms that
"[a]ll people are by nature free and independent," and that this
state provides refuge from governments throughout the world who
rule their citizens with violence, fear, and oppression. (Cal.
Const., art. I, Sec. 1.)
3. Clarifying Amendments
The author offers the following amendments to clarify the
sources of findings and certain facts recited in the resolution,
to add coauthors, and to limit the text of the resolution to the
subject of resettling disabled veterans.
Author's Amendments :
On page 1, strike (Coauthor: Senator Hertzberg) and insert
(Coauthor: Senators Hertzberg and Huff)
On page 1, strike (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Chu,
and Kim) and insert (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Chu,
McCarty, and Kim)
On page 1, strike lines 4 through 13
On page 2, strike lines 1 and 2
On page 2, lines 11 and 12, strike "and have suffered greatly
since April 30, 1975"
On page 2, strike lines 13 through 14, and insert "WHEREAS,
The Humanitarian Resettlement Program and the Orderly
Departure Program have allowed for the"
On page 2, line 18, strike "1975" and insert "1975, and from
1997 to 2009 sons and daughters of former Vietnamese were
included in what became known as the McCain Amendment"
On page 2, line 22, following "Yet," insert "some"
On page 2, line 24, following "Program," insert "and the
Orderly Departure Program"
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On page 2, strike lines 26 through 30
On page 2, strike lines 33 and 34 and insert "WHEREAS,
Promoting the Humanitarian Resettlement Program and the
Orderly Departure Program to include disabled"
On page 2, strike lines 36 through 38 and insert "Lñc ViÇt Nam
CÙng Hòa, and their sons and daughters would rightfully bring
these veterans and their families into programs that, by their
terms, excluded some disabled veterans; now, therefore, be it
On page 3, line 2, strike expand and insert reauthorize"
On page 3, line 3, following "Program" insert "and the Orderly
Departure Program"
On page 3, line 3, following "Army" insert "and their
families"
On page 3, line 4, following "to" insert "apply to"
Support : None Known
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : Author
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
AJR 58 (Correa, 2004) would have urged, among other things, that
the Vietnamese government respect the right of all independent
religious organizations to meet, worship, operate, and practice
their faith in accordance with Vietnam's own constitution and
international covenants to which Vietnam is a signatory and to
restore freedom to all Vietnamese citizens imprisoned or under
house arrest for practicing their faith or for advocating
freedom of religion. This measure died in the Senate Rules
Committee.
SJR 13 (Florez, Res. Ch. 19, Stats. 2003) urged the President
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and the Congress of the United States to amend federal selective
service and immigration laws to grant the right of citizenship
to any and all immigrants who honorably serve in the military.
AB 537 (Correa, 2003) would have revived, under certain
circumstances, causes of action against an employer for unpaid
wages or benefits earned in the former country of South Vietnam
if the cause of action had been accrued by April 1975. This
bill was set for hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but
the hearing was cancelled at the request of the author.
ACR 23 (Maddox, Res. Ch. 70, Stats. 2001) resolved that the
Legislature of the State of California supports religious
freedom for the people of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and
recommended that the United States Congress demand that the
government of that country release all religious prisoners, and
immediately cease harassment, detention, physical abuse, and
imprisonment based on the exercise of religion.
AJR 29 (Maddox, 1999) would have stated that California does not
support the normalization of trade with the Communist government
of Vietnam and urged the United States Senate to reject any
upcoming treaty until human rights are restored in Vietnam.
This measure failed adoption in the Senate Rules Committee.
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