Vietnamese citizens who have been ordered deported should try to reopen their case
By Ajay Choudhary
Many Vietnamese citizens who have been ordered deported have been able to remain in the United States because the Vietnamese government would not allow the U.S. government to deport them to Vietnam. However, those Vietnamese citizens are now more likely to be arrested and deported because of a recent agreement between Vietnam and the United States.
Under an agreement between Vietnam and the United States, the Vietnamese government will allow the U.S. government to deport Vietnamese citizens to Vietnam if those Vietnamese citizens arrived in the United States after July 11, 1995. This agreement will become effective on March 22, 2008. Consequently, the U.S. government will likely begin arresting more Vietnamese citizens who have been ordered deported.
Under the immigration laws of the United States, a person who has been ordered deported can, at any time, file a motion to reopen to apply for asylum based on changed conditions in the person=s native country. It could be argued that the agreement between Vietnam and the U.S. that is described above qualifies as a Achanged condition.Therefore, Vietnamese citizens who have been ordered deported (and who face persecution in Vietnam) should consider filing a motion to reopen to apply for asylum based on the fact that the Vietnamese government is now allowing the U.S. government to deport Vietnamese citizens to Vietnam.
Ajay Choudhary is an attorney at Coane and Associates, 1900 West Loop South, Suite 820, Houston, Texas 77027. His e-mail address is ajay.choudhary@coane.com and his phone number is (713) 850-0066.