Họp Cộng Đồng Seattle: THOẢ HIỆP CHO TRỞ VỀ CỐ QUỐC GIỮA HAI CHÍNH

PHỦ VIỆT NAM VÀ HOA KỲ và Biết Những Quyền Lợi của Mõi Người

Seattle Community Meeting:US-Vietnam Repatriation Agreement

& Know Your Rights

February 17, 2008

Meeting Agenda

• Introductions• Overview of the Repatriation Agreement• Why we should oppose the Memorandum of Understanding• Timeline for deportees• Who will carry out these orders? Immigration and Customs

Enforcement (I.C.E.)• Know Your Rights and How to Help Family/Friend• Plan of Action• Audience Questions

Overview of the MOU

Jay Stansell, esqFederal Public Defender

Opposition to the MOU

• This agreement is unfair: legal ramifications.• This agreement tears apart families and

disrupts people’s lives.• This agreement is part of over a decade of

attempts to “normalize” relations between the US and Vietnam, ultimately allowing the US to profit from Vietnam’s compliance and Vietnam to grow more dependent on the US.

Legal Unfairness of this MOU

Jay Stansell, esq.Federal Public Defender

Humanitarian Unfairness of this MOU: Families and People’s

LivesHao Nguyen

US-Vietnam Relations Surrounding the MOU

Natalie Newton

“Normalized” US-Vietnam Relations

• This MOU is not about “justice” in immigration or criminality, but about the normalization of relations between the US and Vietnam, as it directly relates to the US’s economic power over Vietnam.

• This MOU has been under negotiation for 10 years, beginning during the Clinton Adminstration. During these 10 years, there have been numerous economic and diplomatic moves to “normalize” relations between the two countries after the Vietnam War, beginning in 1991.

US-Vietnam Relations (cont.)

• In 1975 the Fall of Saigon began the influx of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees into the US.

• The US also established a trade embargo on Vietnam, restricting any exchange between the two countries.

US-Vietnam Relations (cont.)

• 1994 Clinton lifts trade embargo. • 1995 Clinton announces normalization of

diplomatic relations between VN and US. • In 1996, Clinton changes immigration laws,

requiring deportation of undocumented immigrants who committed “aggravated felonies.” Since then, the definition of “aggravated felonies” has greatly expanded, which now includes some misdemeanors.

US-Vietnam Relations (cont.)

• In 1997, the US stops accepting Vietnamese refugees. (US closes its doors.)

• 1998 Vietnam and US start negotiating this repatriation agreement allowing for the deportation of Vietnamese who commit aggravated felonies. (US tries to kick people out.)

US-Vietnam Relations (cont.)

In 2001:• US Congress approves the Vietnam Human Rights Act,

which directly links future increase in non-humanitarian aid to Vietnam based on its progress in changes of its human rights violations.

• US congress finalizes a bilateral trade agreement between the US and Vietnam, making it easier for the US to establish economic exchange and power over the country.

• 9-11 happens, emboldening “Anti-Terrorist” and anti-immigrant campaigns in the US.

US-Vietnam Relations (cont.)

• In Dec 2007, President George Bush takes Vietnam off of his list of worst countries in the world which violate religious freedom.

• Jan 1st, 2008, Vietnam joins the World Trade Organization.

• Jan 22nd, 2008, this repatriation agreement is finalized.

Timeline for Deportees

Jay Stansell, esq.Federal Public Defender

Timeline for Deportees

1. Individual is arrested by ICE.2. Within several days:

The individual (called the respondent) is served with a Notice To Appear (NTA) before the immigration judge. The NTA lists the facts that ICE believes can be proven before the IJ, and the ground of removal, along with the citation to the law listing that ground, (for example, that someone entered the country illegally, making them removable under Title 8 of the U.S. Code § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i)).

Timeline for Deportees (cont.)3. Within several weeks: • First appearance before the IJ, the master calendar hearing. At

this point, the respondent may know that there is no defense to deportation, and will admit the allegations and admit that he or she is deportable. This decision should never be made without the advice of experienced legal counsel.

• If the respondent does not agree to being found deportable on the facts and the legal ground claimed by ICE, he or she may deny those facts, and ask for an individual hearing. At this time the respondent should also state what defenses to deportation he or she may seek at that deportation proceeding, for example, she may seek to apply for political asylum.

Timeline for Deportees (cont.)

4. Within several months, sometimes more:Individual hearing is held where the immigration judge will take evidence as to both the facts supporting ICE’s claim that the respondent is deportable, and, if a defense to deportation is being claimed, the respondent’s evidence as to that claim. The immigration judge will normally make his or her decision at that time. If neither ICE or the respondent seeks to appeal the decision, it becomes a final order of deportation.

Timeline for Deportees (cont.)• Appeals:

Appeals to first, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and then to a Circuit Court of the United States Courts of Appeal, can take six months to several years.

• Bond:Depending upon the circumstances of the case, the individual may have a right to post a bond and be released from detention at any point during these proceedings. However, in many cases respondents are ineligible for bond under the law, or cannot afford to post the bond tht is set, and are detained throughout.

Timeline for Deportees (cont.):• ICE has automatic 90 days under the law to try to physically

deport a person.

• ICE may detain a person for an additional period that is reasonably necessary to physically remove the respondent.

• ICE cannot detain any longer it cannot remove the

respondent in the reasonably foreseeable future. • In the Supreme Court cases of Ashcroft v. Kim Ho Ma, and

Zadvydas v. Davis, the Supreme Court stated that the normal limit for what is reasonable is 6 months.

For those under the MOU (cont.):• At some point in the future, you will be given notice to

report to ICE.

• This will be either to:1. Be physically removed, that is put on a plane for Vietnam; or2. Be detained in anticipation of removal. (Often, initial detention is sought to gather a group of individuals together so that they can all be interviewed by immigration officials of the receiving country prior to that country issuing the final document or travel document.)

For those under the MOU (cont.):• Anyone detained for removal under the MOU retains

all the rights of any person with a final order of deportation. That is, though ICE may think it can remove a person, that person must be actually removed within 90 days or a reasonable period after that, or be released to ICE supervision once again.

• Anyone detained for removal to Vietnam should call the office of the Federal Public Defender, at 206 553-1100, and ask to speak to Chris Kerkering, Donna Maxwell, or Jay Stansell. We can represent you at this stage only, but can insure that you are not illegally or indefinitely detained by ICE.

Overview of I.C.E.

Maru VillalpandoOrganizer

Washington Community Action Network

Know Your Rights

Maru Villalpando and Natalie Newton

How to Help Family/Friends

Maru Villalpando and Natalie Newton

Long-Term Plan of Action

Natalie Newton

Possible Plans of Action• Bilingual Rapid Response Team: hotline, outreach,

trainings.• Bilingual Legal Observer Team• Bilingual Legal Network • Documenting people's stories: print, video, online• Fundraising for detainees in ICE and abroad after

deportation• Developing stronger relationships with organizations in

Vietnam who may aid deportees• Building of non-Vietnamese and non-immigrant allies

and political force

Plan of Action (cont.)• The MOU will automatically extend after 3 years:

“The MOU will enter into force sixty (60) days from the date of signature, January 22, 2008 and will be valid for five years. The MOU will be extended automatically for terms of three years thereafter unless written notice not to extend is given by one government to the other at least six months prior to the expiration date of the Agreement. The MOU may be amended or supplemented by written agreement of the Vietnamese government and the U.S. government through appropriate diplomatic channels.”

Plan of Action (cont.)

• Community action to pressure Congressional representatives to overturn the agreement or at least halt its extension.

• Child Citizen Protection Act: if the act passed, judges would have discretion to take into account the impact on US citizen children before ordering deportation.

Audience Questions