In recent weeks, Asian communities have reported a rise in ICE activity targeting Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants through arrests and detentions. Thuan Nguyen, a businessman and former president of the Asian District Cultural Association, said fear has been growing in the community due to recent ICE detentions.
“There have been stories of people in our community getting detained by ICE over, like, a traffic ticket,” Nguyen said. “There has been activity, and people have been alerted, and there has been evidence of ICE vehicles in our community, the Asian District, in the last few weeks.”
Attorney William Batt and advocates with the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center say the crackdown is sweeping up immigrants with no criminal charges and people who were actively trying to follow legal immigration processes. In Oklahoma City’s Asian District, residents say enforcement activity has left families frightened and on edge.
Yingchao Fan, a Chinese immigrant with a work permit and a pending asylum case, was detained in January after a rollover crash on Interstate 40 in Sequoyah County. Fan called 911 for help during the winter storm, but Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers instead questioned him about his immigration status and arrested him.
He was not charged with a crime or even given a traffic citation. Van Vu, a Vietnamese refugee and Mayes County farmer, was detained by ICE during a routine check in on Feb. 25. Another Vietnamese immigrant, Hai Nguyen of the Tulsa area, was also detained during a mandated routine check in in early March. Residents, attorneys and local leaders say families are being left terrified, uncertain and afraid of what comes next.
