THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL-MAY 2025 45 concepts to Vietnam. But in the context of the last half century, the fact that Vietnam is among the largest sources of IVs—along with Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Philippines, and China— is noteworthy. Human Faces of the Legacy of War While most IV applicants today are the beneficiaries of relatives who left the south and established lives in communities throughout the United States, some IV applicants never met their fathers and can neither ignore nor escape the legacy of the war. They are known as Amerasians, the children of U.S. servicemen, officials, and contractors who were left here when the United States departed in 1975. HCMC’s Amerasian IV applicant pool is unique: As public attention turned to maltreatment of these children in the years after the war, Congress created a special immigrant visa class for these individuals through the Amerasian Homecoming Act. Over the years, more than 70,000 Amerasians and their family members have immigrated to the United States to start new lives. There are many tragic elements of this story. Particularly in the immediate aftermath of the war, Amerasians were completely marginalized in Vietnam as children of “enemy” Americans born during the war and denied education and employment opportunities, social support, government benefits, even identity cards. As a result, many lived as outcasts, some eking out a living in remote rural environments or taking to the streets of major cities. The majority of recent applicants were raised by adoptive families, abandoned by mothers who feared reprisals by the Vietnamese government against those viewed as Regardless of where they come from, many IV applicants are motivated by the idea of giving their children greater opportunities.
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