April 24, 2002
By Susan McRae
Daily Journal Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES - An immigration judge in Los Angeles has granted asylum to a prominent Vietnamese businessman and his family, the first time that asylum has been granted based on criticism of another country's economic policies, according to lawyers in the case.
Judge Ira Bank's ruling this week will allow Dac Vi Hoang, his wife and their 15-year-old daughter to remain in the United States.
Hoang, 59, who owned one of Vietnam's largest and most successful companies, manufacturing and exporting furniture and lacquer goods, fled his homeland last year because he feared persecution and imprisonment for his outspoken condemnation of what he characterized as official corruption and government stifling of free enterprise.
"I left everything behind to come to this country to escape the big prison that is Vietnam," Hoang said through an interpreter shortly after arriving in the United States.
Hoang's lawyer, K. Luan Tran of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges in Los Angeles, himself a Vietnamese refugee, said that Monday's ruling was very emotional, for both his client and him.
"Happy is an understatement, but I am really glad that I was able to help [Hoang and his family] obtain freedom in this country, especially since I went through a similar route when I escaped Vietnam," Tran said.
"It was very emotional for me because I understand very well where he came from and how he must have felt during all this time waiting for this decision," he said.
Tran, whose firm handled the case pro bono, said that he faced several challenges in taking on the case.
"Based on my research, no one in the United States ever obtained political asylum based on criticizing the economic policies of another country rather than the political structure," Tran said. "It made it difficult because there was no precedent."
It also was the first, and only, time that Tran has handled an asylum case or appeared in an immigration court.
One of the biggest hurdles, he said, was convincing the judge about how his client was able to become so successful in Vietnam despite his open criticism of government policy.
Tran backed Hoang's asylum request with copies of excerpts from various news reports and statements by human-rights groups, condemning Vietnam for alleged human-rights abuses and warning foreign investors of widespread corruption.
Next, Tran knew that he would need political support. So he set out to gain the attention of members of Congress.
Through his efforts, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., made a speech in support of Hoang that was included in the Congressional Record during the debate over a new U.S. trade agreement with Vietnam.
The hearings were watched closely by the Vietnamese government, Tran said, and he was able to show immigration officials how Hoang's criticism could place him in danger of government retribution if he were to return home.
One year and a half-dozen hearings later, Tran's strategy prevailed.
Immigration attorneys with the Justice Department withdrew their opposition to Hoang's asylum request.