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• Filipino Immigration: 1900s–1934
After the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines became a protectorate of the United States.
In the 1920s, large numbers of Filipino men came to work on farms and canneries throughout the Northwest, replacing
the dwindling supply of Japanese workers. Many of these migrant workers lived in the Chinatown-International District,
forming a large bachelor society similar to the Chinese. Like other Asians, Filipinos were barred from owning land and
were subjected to racial violence. In the late 1920s, Filipinos were driven from their homes in the Yakima Valley. In 1934,
when the Philippines were granted commonwealth status, the U.S. applied restrictions and cut back Filipino
immigration to 50 people each year.
• After WWII: Filipino, Chinese, South Asian and Korean Immigration
In later years, some Filipino veterans of World War II were able to come to the U.S. and gain their citizenship. Koreans
began coming in large numbers in the 1960s and ‘70s. The passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, a sweeping reform
of the immigration laws, resulted in an explosion in immigration. Many settled on the West Coast, with a smaller number
moving to the East Coast.
• Southeast Asian Refugees
After the Vietnam War ended with the Fall of Saigon in 1975, hundreds of thousands of refugees came to the U.S. to
escape the Communist regimes and political upheaval in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
• Vietnamese
In 1954, Vietnam gained independence from France, but was split into North and South. The North Vietnamese, aided
by the Viet Cong, defeated the Southern Army, which was supported by the Americans. With the communist takeover
in 1975, South Vietnamese who had worked with the United States military, fled to this country. This group consisted of
mainly highly educated professionals that were able to adapt fairly well in American mainstream society.
However, a second wave of Vietnamese started leaving the country to escape the government re-education camps.
They were often less educated, coming from the rural areas and escaping to Hong Kong or Malaysia on fishing boats.
From there, many stayed in refugee camps until they were sponsored into the United States or another country. Many
of these “boat people” perished at sea or were attacked by pirates.
• Cambodians (Khmer)
In the early 1970s, the Vietnam War spilled into Cambodia. The communist-backed Khmer Rouge fought against
Cambodian government troops until the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge forced citizens to
move to state-run labor camps. There, they worked 16 hours a day and were given starvation diets. Between 1970
and 1980, an estimated 3 million Cambodian people (out of a population of eight million) died by execution, starvation
or disease. In 1979, the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and interrupted the Khmer Rouge terror.
Cambodians came to the U.S. in two waves. The first wave was in 1975, and the second in the early 1980s. Many
spent months in refugee camps in Thailand before being sponsored to the U.S. Many of the refugees came from
rural areas and had little education and knowledge of Western culture. In Seattle, Cambodians (who also call
themselves “Khmer”) founded many social and cultural organizations, and many maintain their traditional
Buddhist religion.
• Laotians and Hill Tribes
During the 1960s, Laotian and Hill Tribe men were recruited and trained by the U.S. CIA to aid in the war effort against
North Vietnam. The bombing of Laos in the late 1960s caused the flight of 600,000 refugees. Laotians began coming to
the U.S. in 1979.
The Hmong, Mien and Khmu are three of the minority groups that lived in the highlands of Laos. From 1975 to the early
‘80s, those suspected of working with the U.S. fled the communist Pathet Lao regime. The Pathet Lao killed an
estimated 10 percent of the Hmong population after the Vietnam War. Other groups had fled earlier to escape the
bombing of Laos.
“DO YOU KNOW BRUCE?”
