ORANGE COUNTY VOICES IMMIGRATION : About Half Those Hanoi Releases Are Expected--and Welcome--Here : Nearly 90,000 political prisoners and their families are likely to come to the United States in the next 5 years.

Relatives by the scores, bearing welcome signs and American flags, were teary-eyed with anticipation as United Airlines Flight 1109 docked Jan. 13 at Gate 70B at LAX. The first South Vietnamese political prisoners to be released under a recently concluded Washington-Hanoi agreement had arrived, and many were heading for Orange County.

These 28 are but the first of about 90,000 political prisoners and their families expected to come to the United States in the next five years.

But know this first and think what it might mean if it were you: Unlike immigrants, refugees are driven from their homes, families, jobs, culture and country because of “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution.” Leaving is dispiriting, humiliating and traumatizing, but a necessary act of self-preservation.

This point was driven home to me repeatedly by our government officials and refugees themselves on a recent trip to Southeast Asia. I spent two days in Hong Kong with U.S. officials interviewing Vietnamese boat people seeking U.S. asylum.

So, where are the new refugees going to live? How will they get jobs? Will they be treated “special” with low-interest loans and generous cash grants? Who will pay the bills? Inquiring taxpayers want to know.

Under the Refugee Act of 1980, all refugees are treated alike. No discount loans, no special rates. The federal government, largely acting through state and local governments and voluntary agencies, provides short-term resettlement aid, including English-language and job training, small monthly cash allowances, and medical and housing assistance. These programs have generally run for two years, sometimes less.

Unfortunately, beginning this month, the federal government’s fiscal year 1990 and 1991 budgets reflect cutbacks in refugee aid. This will prove particularly difficult for California and Orange County because of the large concentration of Vietnamese refugees. It is another regrettable paradox of U.S. foreign policy. On the one hand, we rightfully condemn the Crown Colony of Hong Kong for forcibly returning refugees to Communist Vietnam--but then wrongfully cut our own refugee quotas and resettlement aid.

Can we then credibly fault the British? Yes, but it ain’t easy.

Of the 900,000 Indochinese who have settled in America, 40% live in California. Of those, 180,000 are in Orange County. If current trends continue, we can expect at least one-half of the 90,000 political prisoners and their families to come to Orange County. Here they will find much-needed social support and economic assistance among their well-established predecessors. The Vietnamese-American community of Little Saigon has a praiseworthy record of complementing government aid and sustaining that assistance long after government aid runs out. But now the community will have to do even more.

Resettlement aid is the first step toward self-sufficiency. Most of these one-time South Vietnamese military officers and government workers are well educated and well trained. Many already speak English, as well as French and Vietnamese. It will not take long for them to adapt and become productive members of our communities. The now-prosperous Vietnamese-American communities in Massachusetts, Virginia, Minnesota and Texas--as well as those in San Jose, Los Angeles and especially Orange County--have shown that resettlement aid is a wise economic investment in all our futures.

Liberals might call it guilt. Conservatives call it duty-bound honor. Whatever your preference, these friends of America--who endured extreme hardship, constant harassment and lengthy imprisonment because of that friendship--have earned our compassion, support and tax dollars. For these political prisoners, the war is finally over. Help welcome them home.