The Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 (H.R. 371; Pub.L. 106-207; 114 Stat. 316.) is legislation which granted Hmong and ethnic Laotian veterans, who were legal refugee aliens in the US (political refugees, facing political persecution, ethnic cleansing, human rights violations or genocide) from the communist Lao government, and who also served in U.S.-backed guerrilla, or US special forces-backed units in Laos, during the Vietnam War, "an exemption from the English language requirement and special consideration for civics testing for certain refugees from Laos applying for naturalization." The initial Act gave these alien veterans eighteen months since the day of the bill's passage by the U.S. Congress, and its signature by the President of the United States, to file a naturalization application for honorary U.S. citizenship. However, the Act was later amended by additional legislation passed by the United States Congress which extended the N-400 filing date by an additional 18 months.

The legislation was passed in bipartisan fashion by the then Republican-controlled United States House of Representatives, and U.S. Senate, and signed into law at the White House by President Bill Clinton on May 26, 2000.

Primary House backers of the original House bill authored by Representative Bruce Vento (D-MN) included Congressmen Lamar Smith (R-TX), Immigration Subcommittee Chairman, Mel Watt, (D-NC) Immigration Subcommittee, Vice Chairman, Calvin Dooley, (D-CA) Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Il), Steve Gunderson (R-WI), Richard Pombo (R-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Wally Herger (R-CA), Tim Holden (D-PA), Howard Coble (R-NC), Robert Dornan (R-CA), Duncan Hunter (senior) (R-CA) and others.

In the Senate, the bill was introduced and advanced by Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and others, including Senator Rod Grams (R-MN), as well as Wisconsin Senators Russell Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), et al.

In its formative stages in the early 1990s, the bill was researched, developed, backed and spearheaded by the nation's largest non-profit ethnic Hmong and Laotian veterans organizations, including the Central Valley, California–based Lao Veterans of America Institute and the Washington, D.C.–based Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA) who testified in support of the legislation in 1997 at Committee hearings before the U.S. House of Representatives and Congress and who repeatedly mobilized in support of the bill's passage. Colonel Wangyee Vang, President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. and others, helped educate and mobilized the Lao- and Hmong-American community across the United States to support passage of the legislation.Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Washington, D.C., http://www.laoveteransofamerica.org Center for Public Policy Analysis, Washington, D.C.Davis, Charles, Washington Times, Washington, D.C.,(24 August 1997), "Repaying a Debt"Smith, Mary Lynn, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), (11 May 1997), "Hmong veterans from Twin Cities heading to D.C. to attend tribute; Refugees back bill to ease citizenship requirements" Baca, Maria Elena, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota),(23 June 1998), "Hundreds rally for bill" States News Service, (16 May 2000) "Laos Hmong Veterans: Waive U.S. Citizenship Test Language."Barber, Ben, Washington Times, (15 May 1998) "Hmong Army Veterans Ask for U.S. Citizenship"Frommer, Fred, Associated Press (AP), Washington, D.C. (2 May 2000) "House Approves Hmong Citizen Bill" Asia Week "House Committee Approves Easier Citizenship Rules for Hmong, Laotian Vets" (12 April 2000) Sewell, Chris, The Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin, (20 May 2000), "Hmong Vets Get Break in Citizenship"

Mr. Philip Smith, the LVA, Lao Veterans of America Institute, the Center for Public Policy Analysis, and others, also urged passage of two additional pieces of legislation, one to grant an additional 18 months to implement the bill (passed in 2001), another to grant citizenship to Hmong veterans widows.The Economist (29 November 2001), "They earned it: A last-minute reprieve for Hmong fighters seeking American citizenship." https://www.economist.com/united-states/2001/11/29/they-earned-itThe Economist, (1 December 2001)"They earned it; Hmong-Americans.(Citizenship for Hmong refugees)"

Lao Hmong General Vang Pao, the most influential leader in the Hmong community prior to his decline and death in the United States, also backed passage of the legislation.

As a result of the Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act tens of thousands of ethnic Laotian and Hmong veterans received American citizenship.

Historical context

Decades before the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act came into existence, a U.S.-backed clandestine and covert military operation took place in Laos for some 14 years during the Vietnam War. The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited and guided indigenous Hmong and ethnic Laotian peoples to fight the invading North Vietnamese Army and Marxist People's Army of Vietnam in the Royal Kingdom of Laos. Hmong involvement in the Vietnam War is known to many as the "Secret War" or the Laotian Civil War and North Vietnamese invasion of Laos. Despite the United States' and CIA's efforts in support of the Royal Lao Government and Hmong, and the anti-communist Hmong and Laotian forces supporting and participating in the United States' covert operations, the country of Laos eventually fell to the invading North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and communist Pathet Lao.

The impact of the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Royal Lao Government's efforts to defend the ancient Kingdom of Laos with the help of the U.S.-backed Hmong "Secret Army" guerrilla and special forces caused significant casualties. According to Representative Bruce Vento, conservative estimates "list 18,000 to 20,000 [Laotians] killed in combat between 1963 and 1971 with tens of thousands injured." The Lao Veterans of America and Lao Veterans of America Institute put the number at over 50,000 Hmong veterans killed during the Vietnam War, not including tens of thousands of Hmong and Laotian refugees and asylum seekers killed prior to 1975.Vang, Wangyee, Lao Veterans of America Institute, Fresno, CaliforniaSmith, Philip, Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Washington, D.C. http://www.laoveteransofamerica.org This number does not account for the number of widows, orphans, and displaced people. These figures also do not account for the tens of thousands of Hmong and Royal Laotian veterans and their families who died in reeducation camps, following the Communist takeover in 1975, or who were killed in ongoing military attacks by the Lao People's Army and Vietnam People's Army as documented by the Lao Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, the Center for Public Policy Analysis, the United League for Democracy in Laos, and others.

Purposes

The Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 aimed to make naturalization an easier process for the Hmong-American veteran refugees (official legal aliens living, and legally residing, in the United States who were political refugees), who served in Laos in support U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, to become fully naturalized, U.S. citizens. The key members of Congress, organizations and people backing and fighting for the introduction and passage of the bill had at least three similar goals or purposes, which included:

The first goal was for the United States' government to grant citizenship to those Hmong- and Laotian-American veterans who served with U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. This also meant the recognition of the important sacrifices the U.S. "Secret Army" made in support of the defense of U.S. national security interests and the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War, including deaths that occurred, the injuries, and loss of homeland for the people of Laos.Smith, Philip, Executive Director, Center for Public Policy Analysis, Washington, D.C. http://www.centreforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

The second purpose was to educate the U.S. Congress and U.S. government about the unique obstacle the Hmong people had in taking the English test in order to get naturalized. For many Hmong, English was difficult because the Hmong language only recently acquired written characters.Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Washington, D.C. http://www.laoveteransofamerica.org

The third goal of the act was to help Hmong-American veteran's families adjust and obtain citizenship in the United States.

Journey

This bill was first introduced in the early 1990s by a handful of members of Congress led by Representative Bruce Vento (D-MN), and key Republicans, including Don Ritter (R-PA), in an effort to honor Hmong and Laotian veterans who were enlisted in the U.S.-backed "Secret Army" in the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam War. The bill was a result of not only a large lobby effort by the Lao Veterans of America (LVA), and its National President, Colonel Wangyee Vang, and Washington, D.C., Director, Philip Smith, but also support and pressure from the Hmong community, and Vang Pao as well—-who Smith and the LVA worked closely with from 1988-2003 on various public policy issues.

Philip Smith, a veteran public policy analyst and influential legislative affairs expert on Capitol Hill, along with Colonel Wangyee Vang, of the Fresno, California-based Lao Veterans of America Institute and LVA, are widely credited as having developed the bipartisan strategy, and efforts in the U.S. Congress and Lao- and Hmong-American community that ultimately led both to the introduction and final passage of the legislation, as well as the two follow-on bills to grant and extension of time to implement the original bill and grant citizenship to the Hmong veterans' widows.Aamot, Gregg, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), (18 August 1997) "Hmong putting American politics to work for them; From Minnesota, California and other states, unprecedented numbers of Hmong immigrants are learning how to benefit from democracy by wielding the power that lobbying Congress gives them.(NEWS)http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62614713.html "Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota, (15 May 1998) "Minnesota group swells the ranks of Lao veterans rally; Hundreds gathered to pay respects to the secret army of the Vietnam War. (NEWS)" Frommer, Fred, Associated Press (AP) Washington, D.C., (10 October 2000) "Minnesota Rep. Bruce Vento Dies" http://www.mesothel.com/asbestos-cancer/mesothelioma/patient-profiles/vento_obit.htm Gordon, Greg, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota),(12 June 1998) "House panel acts to help Hmong vets who fought for CIA gain citizenship." Frommer, Fred, Associated Press (AP),(23 May 2000) "Hmong Citizenship Bill Passes Congress" The Wisconsin State Journal,(Madison, Wisconsin), (24 May 2000) "Bill to Help Hmong Gets Final OK It Would Make It Easier For Many Laotians To Get U.S. Citizenship." Madigan, Sean, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) (27 May 2000) "Clinton signs citizenship bill for Hmong veterans".U.S. Congressional Record, "Honoring and commending the Lao Veterans of America, Laotian and Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War, and their families, for their historic contributions to the United States." https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/406/text

Although the bill eventually enjoyed broad non-partisan support, it took ten years to pass. The 106th Congress finally passed the bill and on May 26, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act into law.