PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — VietLead is a grassroots organization based in South Philadelphia and Camden advocating for immigrants in the Southeast Asian community through youth programming, health education and civic engagement.
Van Sam is VietLead's program manager of community defense, who oversees the organization’s work to help formerly incarcerated community members.
Sam described VietLead’s work as more critical than ever.
“Seeing a lot of folks being really afraid because policy and executive orders are changing every single day.”
Even after they've served their time, members of the community face threats of ICE detention and deportation.
“They have to live with this constant uncertainty of when they're going to get detained,” Sam said.
“And even when they're detained, where are they going to get deported to? Because so many Southeast Asian people were born in the refugee camps.”
According to the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, 16,000 Southeast Asians in the United States have faced or are currently dealing with deportation orders.
VietLead is providing legal support, including consultation and case management, to 30 people in our region facing the threat of deportation.
The organization works to support affected individuals and advocate for policy reforms.
They highlight the importance of considering the historical context and the contributions of Southeast Asian American communities when addressing immigration enforcement policies.