Aid Cuts: ‘What Can I Do to Help My Family?’

Kim Hong Keo Norng, 49, and her husband, Kim Norm Norng, 66, of Long Beach, came to the U.S. 10 years ago as Cambodian refugees after surviving four years in brutal Khmer Rouge work camps, where two of their children died, and several more years in refugee camps.

The Norngs talked with TRIN YARBOROUGH about what they will do if the public assistance that supports their family is cut off under the new welfare act, which denies most aid to both legal and illegal immigrants. As they talked in their small apartment, their sons, 15, 13 and 10, listened. A daughter, 23, works in another state and a daughter, 21, is in her first year at Cal State Long Beach.

The bill would allow refugees five years’ worth of aid; the Norngs are well past that limit. Mrs. Norng is a naturalized citizen, so it is unclear how much welfare aid the family might keep. Mr. Norng and their 15-year-old son receive disability aid, Supplemental Security Income. The other children receive Aid to Families With Dependent Children.

Translation assistance by Riem Men.

Mrs. Norng: When we reached the first refugee camp, I couldn’t walk any further. All of us had blister-covered feet and had hardly eaten for a long time. My husband helped build a shelter in return for a little rice for us. I was two months pregnant and later my son, now 15, was born disabled. He cannot hear well and when he speaks one cannot understand him. He goes to a special school and receives SSI.

We knew that the world contained many wars, and we heard that in the United States there would be peace and medical care and public schooling for our children. We heard that the U.S. government protected its people and treated them very well. We arrived with nothing at all, just clothing from the camp. We had five small children and were able to obtain AFDC. My husband was then 57.

Mr. Norng: In the camps I tried to study English but I couldn’t remember anything, and I felt very afraid that they would not let me come to the United States with my family, that we would again be separated. I felt afraid all the time, worrying how to make a living and take care of my family. Even after we came here I had terrible nightmares--many Cambodians do. Night after night I would wake up screaming and screaming, yet the next day I could not remember why, and I had confusion and could not remember many things. In 1987 they put me on SSI for disability. That same year they put our six-year-old disabled son on SSI also.

Mrs. Norng: I wanted to be a U.S. citizen, so I studied a long time, listening to tapes about the laws of this country, learning to speak and read and write English. And I became a citizen in 1994. But this was not possible for my husband, because he cannot remember. So when government help is cut off, I wonder what I can do to help my family. I would be glad to take any job available, whatever I can find. Still, who would accept my application? I have many serious physical conditions, a bad heart, mental problems and asthma. Also I worry very much about leaving my children. There are many gangs and dangerous situations in Long Beach. If something happened to another of my children, I would be so sad that I know I would die.

Mr. Norng: In our own country we already have experienced that when there is hunger, there is no honesty. People will do anything to feed themselves and their babies. During the Khmer Rouge, people would be killed in front of everyone just for stealing one tiny piece of potato or a few grains of rice. But the next day people would steal again. Therefore, if the government can’t find a way to help people at least eat, it must spend much more money on police and jails. And yet no matter how much it spends it can never win, because the force of hunger is greater than any other force.

When aid is cut off, will the government help people find jobs? If the government will give me a job I will accept any kind at all, but if not, I am trapped. I am 66 years old. How can I live? Where can I go? I feel afraid all the time.

Mrs. Norng: I know there are people who try to cheat the government, but they are now putting those who really need help together with those who cheat, as if they were the same. If the government cuts off help to my husband and son and to my other children, then there will be only one way for me. I will ask all of my children to quit school and to find work, though they could not earn much, and we will all live together and share whatever food we can buy.