Amerasian Homecoming Act

American Homecoming Act

Other short titles	Amerasian Homecoming Act Amerasian Immigration Act
Long title	An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide preferential treatment in the admission of certain children of United States citizens.
Nicknames	Immigration and Nationality Act Amendment of 1982
Enacted by	the 97th United States Congress
Effective	October 22, 1982
Citations
Public law	97-359
Statutes at Large	96 Stat. 1716
Codification
Titles amended	8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality
U.S.C. sections amended	8 U.S.C. ch. 12, subch. II §§ 1151 & 1153
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 1698 by Jeremiah Denton (R–AL) on October 1, 1981 Committee consideration by Senate Judiciary Passed the Senate on September 28, 1982 (Passed voice vote) Passed the House on October 1, 1982 (Passed voice vote) with amendment Senate agreed to House amendment on October 1, 1982 (Passed voice vote) Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 22, 1982

The American Homecoming Act or Amerasian Homecoming Act, was an Act of Congress giving preferential immigration status to children in Vietnam born of U.S. fathers. The American Homecoming Act was written in 1987, passed in 1988, and implemented in 1989. The act increased Vietnamese Amerasian immigration to the U.S. because it allowed applicants to establish mixed race identity by appearance alone. Additionally, the American Homecoming Act allowed the Amerasian children and their immediate relatives to receive refugee benefits About 23,000 Amerasians and 67,000 of their relatives entered the United States under this act. While the American Homecoming Act was the most successful program in moving Vietnamese Amerasian children to the United States, the act was not the first attempt by the U.S. government. Additionally the act experienced flaws and controversies over the refugees it did and did not include since the act only allowed Vietnamese Amerasian children.

In April 1975, the U.S.-backed government of South Vietnam fell to North Vietnamese forces. Refugees from Vietnam started to arrive in the United States under U.S. government programs. In 1982, the U.S. Congress passed the Amerasian Immigration Act (PL 97-359). The law prioritized U.S. immigration to children fathered by U.S. citizens including from Korea, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. However, the law did not provide immigration to mothers or half-siblings, only to Amerasian children. Amerasians would generally have to coordinate with their American fathers in order to obtain a visa. This provided a challenge for many since some fathers did not know they had children or the fathers may not be claiming the children. If the Amerasian children did not have documentation from the American father, then they could be examined for “American” physical features by a group of doctors. Additionally, since the U.S. and Vietnam’s governments did not have diplomatic relations, the law could not be applied to Vietnamese Amerasian children. Essentially the Amerasian Immigration Act did little for Amerasian children and even less for Vietnamese Amerasian children.

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