Hoa Van Tran, the sole Democratic candidate for OC Supervisor, District 1, on Thursday night stated his personal view on illegal immigration to OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano here: He thinks they should be given some type of amnesty.
The Bolsavik came over and asked Hoa (picture) what he meant. And he said, “That’s exactly what I meant. That’s my personal stand.”
“Illegal immigrants should be given some way to become legal immigrants and to naturalize,” he said.
So the Bolsavik and Hoa sat down to get some more details. Hoa opened with the statement that “It’s really a federal matter. I’m just stating my personal feeling.”
But what about the perception that Vietnamese voters are conservative law-and-order types who’d want to deport all illegals?
“I don’t think that’s right,” Hoa said. “When we left Vietnam as boat people, we went to a third country. Like Malaysia or Hong Kong. When we came, they put us in camps, because we were illegal.”
“We’re legal now,” Hoa said, “but we were illegal when we landed in the refugee camps.”
Hoa himself was a boat person who landed in Singapore. He mentioned the Whitehead camp in Hong Kong several times. That camp was notorious as the very last refugee camp in Hong Kong, and from which tens of thousands of Vietnamese were forced back to the communist country by the British in their hurry to turn the island over to the Chinese government.
Hoa explained further, “From a practical standpoint, how would you deport 10 to 12 million people?” He pointed out that all three major presidential candidates – McCain, Obama, Clinton – have repudiated mass deportation.
“As Democrats, we look at social issues. We need to help out the little guys who have no voice,” Hoa said. “This country was built on immigrants, and we shouldn’t turn our back on immigrants.”
But there’s a difference between legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, no?
“Look,” Hoa said. “There are illegal immigrants from everywhere. There are illegal immigrants from Mexico, there are Asian illegal immigrants from Vietnam. There are white illegal immigrants from Europe and Canda. Do we check everybody, check their passports, check their birth certificates? Or do we only check based on skin color?”
“From a human standpoint, I am an immigrant,” Hoa said. “When we landed in Singapore, we were illegal. When other Vietnamese landed in Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, we were all illegal.”
What about Assemblyman Van Thai Tran (no relations) and OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen and their stands on immigration?
Phu Do Nguyen, one of Hoa’s most ardent supporters and one-time campaign treasurer, who had been listening from a safe distance away, walked over and chimed in, “The guy (Van Tran) is a disgrace. He doesn’t know where he’s coming from.” Hoa calmed Phu down: “Van came in 1975, he wasn’t a boat person.”
Phu kept on, “Just because we achieved our American dream doesn’t mean we should turn our back on other people who want to pursue their American dream.”
But, we Vietnamese were escaping an oppressive communist regime. Whereas, let’s take Mexico; Mexico is a democratic country.
Not really, Phu said. “In the refugee camps, everybody’s positioning themselves so they could be resettled in America. Nobody wanted to go to Australia or France. Why? If seeking freedom was the only reason, we’d go anywhere, not just America. No, we were also chasing the American dream.”
So what would Hoa do about it? Nothing. “I’m just stating my personal stand. It’s really a federal matter. I’m running for county office.”
Who is this guy Phu Do Nguyen? He sure shoots his dirty mouth off when he’s not even a candidate. Is Hoa Tran the candidate, or is it Phu Do (What kindof name is this??) Nguyen running on his behalf? What a moron is this Phu Do Nguyen. Hoa Tran should speak for himself and tell this guy Phu Do Nguyen to shut up, unless he has the gonads to put his name in the ring.
Just edited to add detail on Phu Do Nguyen. He’s an attorney, Hoa’s boss at the law firm, and the person signing Hoa’s initial financial disclosures, though the campaign has hired a professional treasurer now. You can read more here: http://bolsavik.com/2008/04/06/hoa-van-tran-does-have-a-plan/
I think Hoa is ridiculous pretending that political refugees and illegal immigrants are the same. Also, the Vietnamese community realizes that maintaining the sovereignty of your borders is important. They have seen first hand what happens when you don’t.
Additionally, Assemblyman Van Tran makes it pretty clear that he is PRO-immigrant. He has sent letters to President Bush in opposition to the recently raised fees on becoming a legal citizen (http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a68/Index.aspx?page=PR&pr=3635) and voted for a 2006 bill which will provided financial assistance to legal immigrants seeking citizenship. He even sent out a statement applauding the Governor for signing it. (http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a68/Index.aspx?page=PR&pr=3465)
“As an immigrant myself, I know that you can not support both legal and illegal immigration. This bill is a great step forward for all of those folks who are going through the process the right way.” – ASSEMBLYMAN VAN TRAN (http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/enews/eletter.aspx?id=37)
And what a stretch by Hoa’s goons to say the Assemblyman is being anti-Latino because he doesn’t want the border wide open. Typical Democratic race-baiting.
Here is an excerpt from an LA Times article last year. It doesn’t sound like Tran is anti-Hispanic. It just sounds like he address issues that all communities care about:
O.C.’s mix of cultures yields cooperation, tensions
By David Kelly
Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2007
…After the Tan Nguyen debacle, Assemblyman Tran cosponsored legislation with Democratic Assemblyman Jose Solorio of Anaheim targeting those trying to intimidate voters. He said he preferred to look for similarities, not differences between the groups.
‘Hispanic families are very conservative on issues of family values. We share the same religion — Catholicism in many cases. Issues such as education are very important to both communities,’ Tran said. ‘The trials and difficulties of assimilating and language-gap issues are the same.’
He opposes illegal immigration but does so in a way that he says avoids ‘emotionalism and divisiveness.’
‘You can articulate your view without offending people,’ he said.
Tran, a former Garden Grove councilman, was one of the first Vietnamese Americans elected to a state legislature and has become a powerful political figure in the immigrant community.
‘The county is becoming more Hispanic and more Asian, and I am conscious of the growing pains it is going through,’ he said. ‘It’s no big mystery how I get people to support me. I address issues that all communities care about.’…
Please check your facts and behave responsibly before you mouth off on someone. It makes all of you look stupid and unprepared.
Viet Voter, you are right.
I do admire Mr. Hoa Tran for speaking up. He shows he can be a politician. I don’t like how people for other campaigns leave nasty comments on blogs to help their candidates. Speak the truth.
This Milo guy must be one of the Van Tran’s ass kissers ( the Trannies) ( probably the gang of four). Van Tran has no business pretending to patrol the border. Van supported Trung, one of his goon who was anti Latino in their campaign against Janet. Van has two very effective slave who answer all his campaign concerns, Lan Quoc Nguyen, a Bolsa attorney, who defamed the H.O people on radio, supportive of Bush ‘s policy in kicking a lot of Vietnamese people back to Vietnam without concerning their background nor circumstances. The other goon is Truong Diep, another ass kisser. The Trannies have never denounced Bush ‘s policy in deporting their own people back to Vietnam since their loyalty is to their party, not their conscience nor people. These are the kind of people that should belong to the Communist party in Vietnam, loyalty to their party, not their people. Now, the Trannies has a new call girl on the block, Dina Nguyen, who would do antything to please her boss, Van Tran, and she is running for supervisor.