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CALIFORNIA VIETNAMESE AMERICAN ATTORNEYS PROVIDE LEGAL AID
TO KATRINA SURVIVORS IN BILOXI
VABANC collaborated with several Mississippi legal organizations to
organize the first-ever free legal clinic in Biloxi, Mississippi
focusing on Vietnamese Americans survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Vietnamese American attorneys from California flew to Biloxi in
January 2007 to help the sizable Vietnamese population in Biloxi with
legal issues arising from the storm. This project was prompted
by the lack of persons with combined legal and Vietnamese language
abilities in the Gulf region.
For Mai Phan, a San Jose attorney and vice president of VABANC, the
project was a poignant homecoming. Phan is a New Orleans native and
Tulane Law School graduate who grew up in Mississippi. Her parents’
home in Biloxi was devastated by the storm. “My father, Henry Phan,
was an active member in the Vietnamese community of Biloxi. He passed
away just months after Katrina, and I know that he would have wanted
me to follow in his footsteps to support the community in Biloxi.”
Last September, with the support of VABANC, Phan participated in a
similar clinic in New Orleans. Recognizing that Mississippi also has a
large Vietnamese population with linguistic barriers to obtaining
legal help, Phan coordinated with Boat People S.O.S., the Mississippi
Center for Justice (MCJ), the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law, and the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Program to set up the
program in Biloxi.
While no longer in the headlines, the hurricane continues to have a
severe impact on the large Vietnamese-speaking population in its path.
According to MCJ president Martha Bergmark: “Over 4,500 Vietnamese
were impacted by Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Until recently, this population was isolated and without legal
assistance tailored to their unique situation. Primarily, the
Vietnamese victims faced a language barrier that prevented them from
receiving aid and assistance. Now we are in a position to provide them
with help in their native language, giving them equal access to the
legal assistance we know is vital to disaster relief and recovery.”
Five attorneys and two other volunteers from California, some with
VABANC support but most paying their own way, spent three drizzly days
in Biloxi to train for and staff the clinic that fielded issues
ranging from FEMA emergency aid to insurance, landlord-tenant
disputes, public assistance, and even criminal prosecution.
Approximately 70 clients were served, exceeding the organizers’
expectations.
San Francisco attorney Duy Thai, a former VABANC president who was
among the group traveling to Biloxi, said the need is ongoing. “I was
surprised that the issues coming in seemed like ones that should have
been addressed long ago. It’s easy for us to forget once the headlines
are gone. I wish every American could see first-hand, as I tried to
do, the shocking amount of destruction that can still be seen.”
VABANC’s President Minh Hoang, a San Francisco attorney, is eager to
provide this critical legal support on a continuing basis to the
Vietnamese American community. “VABANC is in the initial stages of
formulating ideas on how to endow a long-term fellowship, perhaps in
conjunction with other public interest organizations, to place a
Vietnamese-speaking public interest lawyer in the Gulf region.” Given
the heavy turnout of clients in January, the clinic might also be
repeated.
“We are fortunate in the Bay Area to have many Vietnamese-speaking
attorneys, legal aid resources, and large law firm pro bono programs,”
Thai said. “The unique need, however, is half-way across the country,
where that complete combination does not exist.” VABANC hopes support
could be drawn not only from the Northern California legal community
but also from a newly-developing national network of Vietnamese
American lawyers. VABANC recently hosted the first-ever National
Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys, where Thai organized a
panel on Katrina-related legal needs.
While there have been other efforts to provide legal help to Katrina
survivors, relatively little has been focused on the
Vietnamese-speaking population. Some of the non-Vietnamese volunteers
at the Biloxi clinic were surprised to learn that a large Vietnamese
population even existed there.
While the largest number of volunteers came from California, there
were also attorneys, law students, and other volunteers from
Washington D.C., New Jersey, Texas, and Louisiana, as well as staff
members from the Harvard Law School Pro Bono Program. Attorneys from
the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ) trained the volunteers and
provided expertise on local legal issues.
The volunteers VABANC helped to recruit included: An
Phong Vo, Texas; Anh Phan, Sacramento; Chih-Yuan Lien,
Louisiana; Duy Thai, San Francisco; Irene Asbury, New Jersey; Khanh
Vo, California; Mai Phan, San Jose; Quyen Tu, Orange County; Tammy Tu,
Orange County; Theresa Dang, Orange County; Tuyet Duong, D.C.
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