Vietnam War Refugees Weigh In On President Trump's Immigration Policies

Published April 28, 2017 at 12:12 PM EDT

Chinh Dinh and Ly Nguyen arrived in Philadelphia in the 1983 and 1992 as Vietnamese refugees. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

When Southeast Asians fled to the United States in the 1970s and ’80s as refugees of the Vietnam War, Americans were just as divided about whether to accept them as they are now about welcoming refugees from Syria and other countries.

Back then, the federal government made the unpopular choice to double down on the number of people it would take in, and created a formal resettlement system.

Today, the Trump administration is taking a much stricter stance. And as Katie Colaneri (@KatieColaneri) from Here & Now contributor WHYY reports, it’s sparking memories and mixed reactions for Philadelphia’s refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

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