APPLETON, Wis (NBC 26) -- Earlier this month Hmong people living in the United States learned that the Trump administration is considering increasing the number of deportations, and they could be affected. It's a piece of news that has hit the Fox Cities Hmong community hard, especially those who haven't become citizens yet and are facing deportation notices.
At the Hmong American Partnership in Appleton, Vue Vang helps prepare people for their naturalization test which is a test to become a United States citizen.
"Most of them are older. So their language, reading, writing and spelling are very difficult for them," says Vang.
Vang’s clients are predominately Hmong, people who fled Vietnam after the war in fear of being persecuted for serving alongside the United States.
"Ever since she came here she's been working all her life, trying to take care of her kids, so no time for school," says Vang describing one of the clients he was tutoring for the naturalization test.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement there are currently 47-hundred Hmong and Laotian people across the United States who are facing deportation notices. ICE representatives say that more than 85 percent of them, have criminal records.
"A lot of the ones that come in here, they do have deportation notices. In the state of Wisconsin, we know there is a least 700(deportation notices for Hmong)," says Kou Vang the President of Hmong American Partnership.
Kou Vang says since the news regarding potential Hmong deportations broke, his office has been consistently busy. He says today he is reminding all of those concerned, that this potential impact will likely impact those with final deportation orders first.
"A lot of them they just don't have the resources to get citizenship. I think it cost's around 800 dollars now just to get citizenship," says Kou Vang.
For now the work will continue at the Hmong American Partnership, as staff tries to prepare their neighbors, family and friends for the worst case scenario.
"We are considered enemies of Laos. So if we were to return there you're looking at a potential death sentence," says Kou Vang.
But as they prepare they try to remain optimistic, optimistic that their Hmong American culture can continue to thrive.
"These are people that have contributed to society," adds Vue Vang.
According to the State Department, overall the United States plans to re-settle, or let reside long-term, up to 18-thousand refugees in 2020.
This Sunday at the Hmong American Partnership in Appleton, there will be a community forum at 1pm. At the forum speakers will address some of the communities concerns and answer questions related to the potential deportation of thousands of Hmong and Laotians across the country.
