IRVINE : Immigrants to Talk About Life in U.S.

Four Orange County residents who immigrated to America from Vietnam will talk about the long and sometimes difficult assimilation process at a panel discussion Sunday in Irvine.

Organizers expect that the Henry David Thoreau Society event will also touch on the national debate over illegal immigration.

“I am certain that it will come up,” said Al Mortenson, a society member. “They will talk about the whole idea of assimilation and adjustment and what it is to be part of American society.”

All four speakers--Phuong Le, Thu Ngo, Hoa Nguyen and Thuan Nguyen--left Vietnam as youths and grew up in Orange County. They were encouraged to discuss their experiences publicly by Mickey Jackson, their writing teacher at Golden West College.

Jackson will moderate Sunday’s talk, titled “Beyond the Melting Pot,” as each person discusses the challenges of fitting into American society. They will also speak about their memories of life in Vietnam.

“They are proud to be Americans, but also take pride in being Vietnamese,” Mortenson said. “They are very uplifting.”

Event organizers hope the discussion will offer the audience a new perspective on the immigration debate.

“This is a group of recent immigrants who found American society exciting and (full) of opportunity,” Mortenson said.

The discussion, which is free to the public, begins at 4 p.m. at the Market Center Community Room on Campus Drive across the street from UC Irvine.