According to Census 2000, there are about 11,000 people of Vietnamese descent in Philadelphia. Most of those born before the mid-1970s (and some even later than that) were born in Vietnam or in refugee camps in neighboring nations. The arrival of Vietnamese immigrants to the United States follows a similar pattern to the other Southeast Asian populations who were uprooted by the war and related violence in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. During the early 1970s, the first large wave of refugees arrived from Vietnam, mostly made up of members of a more educated, middle-class.

Later in the 1970s and early 1980s, a second, larger wave of refugees from less advantaged backgrounds began to arrive. Many of the members of this wave were the so-called "Boat People"; mostly rural farmers who escaped Vietnam to neighboring nations via small, dangerous boats. Many spent years in refugee camps in neighboring countries before they were able to come to the United States.

After these initial waves, the population of Vietnamese in America continued to grow as immigrants sponsored their family members. Again, similarly to the Cambodian population, there is not a clear pattern of immigration for Philadelphia's elder immigrant population. Since the population came from refugee camps, some elders may have come with their whole family, or been sponsored by their children later, or have come alone. When working with groups coming from such chaotic and varied experiences, it is important not to label the entire community, but to be open to learning about individual experiences.


For More Information:

"Vietnamese in the United States"
http://www.library.ca.gov/assets/acrobat/vietnamese.pdf
This is a profile on the Vietnamese community in the United States, in PDF format. It contains an incredible amount of information including: length of time in the US, family ties, language retention, religion, customs & taboos, and much more.

"Home and Abroad"
http://citypaper.net/articles/022102/cs.cover.shtml
This is a City Paper article about Vietnamese people living in America - how they hold on to their heritage, but do not forget about their at times troubling past.

"Boat People: A Refugee Crisis" from CBC's (Canadian Television) archives
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-524/life_society/boat_people/
This website contains 11 video clips that aired in Canada about Vietnamese immigration. Topics cover such issues as: why people fled Vietnam, re-education camps, and immigrants being unwanted by current citizens.

"Recent Trends in Immigration to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" by Fels Institute of Government at Univeristy of Penn
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/fels/philapopulation.htm
This document contains a brief history of the immigration patterns of this population in Philadelphia, why this population came here, and what parts of the city they live in now.

The World Fact Book
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
This CIA website contains an extremely large amount of information about all of the countries in the world such as: history, geography, information about its citizens, government, economy, transnational issues, and more. To find out information about this country, pull it down from the menu.