Happy Endings for Vietnamese Families : * Program for Orderly Departure Bypasses Mortal Dangers Suffered by ‘Boat People’

Hard as life can be for Vietnamese immigrants, there are hundreds of thousands of people left in Vietnam who hold on to the dream of starting a new life in the United States. If they are lucky, they have someone like Yen Truong of Santa Ana planning for their arrival. Truong, who after many hardships arrived in Orange County 12 years ago, last week was joined by his wife, his mother, a daughter, a son and his sister-in-law.

The Truong family’s satisfying result was possible under the “Orderly Departure Program,” the umbrella for a series of agreements in recent years between the Vietnamese government and the United States. Among other things, ODP has allowed thousands of Vietnamese to leave their country safely rather than attempt a treacherous sea-crossing made by so many “boat people.”

Truong, 51, once owned a steel-melting factory in Vietnam and escaped by sea after being imprisoned in 1975 after Saigon fell. He found his way to Westminster in 1979. Since then, he has been trying to arrange for his family to follow him, a task that was helped in recent years by ODP. The program has as one of its primary goals to help reunite families. It also assists with the emigration of Amerasians who are the offspring of U.S. servicemen, as well as former officials of the South Vietnamese regime who were persecuted after Saigon fell.

While ODP speeded the process for Truong’s family, putting everything in order took time. Meanwhile, Truong wasn’t idle. He obtained an associate arts degree from Santa Ana College and has worked three jobs at a time. He has never taken a vacation. Eventually, he bought a house and became a U.S. citizen. His hopes that he could share his good fortune with his family finally were realized.

For every story like the Truongs’, however, there are literally hundreds of thousands of others of people still waiting to emigrate. The State Department says that more than 700,000 applications are pending in Vietnam, about 460,000 of which meet current eligibility standards. More than 4,000 Vietnamese a month are permitted to leave for the United States, more than any other ethnic group. Others face years-long waiting lists.

And while ODP isn’t perfect, it has provided an opportunity for families like the Truongs to reunite. Overcoming the hardships they have endured in their war-torn country isn’t easy, nor is confronting the language and economic barriers of their newly adopted homeland. But at least they have a chance of creating a new life--together.