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| Sunday, 31 July 2005 |
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Laotian refugee cherub turns Minnesotan Senator Critical Issues by Lionel Yodhasinghe When Communist militants defeated CIA-led war in Laos in 1975 and formed the Lao People's Democratic Republic Government, an estimated over 45,000 Hmong who supported US forces took their families and fled the country in fear of retaliation. Five year old Mee Moua too accompanied her parents in the escape and ended up in a refugee camp in neighbouring Thailand. Time passed slowly, and nobody would have even guessed that a little girl playing hide and seek in the camp would become a senator and make a name one day in the North Star State of Minnesota. Assisted by the US refugee resettlement program, her family moved to Rhode Island, in 1978. Then her family relocated to Wisconsin, where she was able to complete her high school education. Mee's family moved to St. Paul in 1988. Mee earned a Bachelor's degree from Brown University in Providence in 1992. Two years later, she obtained a Master's degree in public affairs from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. She graduated law at the University of Minnesota in 1997, and in the same year, she admitted to the State Bar as an attorney. Former U.S. Representative and Mee's professor Barbara Jordan inspired Mee to pursue a career in public service and politics. Later she was involved as a local organizer in Austin in the Bill Clinton and Al Gore presidential campaign in 1992. Mee played an active role in local Democratic Farmers and Labourers (DFL) party when she settled in St. Paul. She was the secretary for the St. Paul DFL party for 4 years and helped in campaigns for many DFL candidates including Sandy Pappas, Steve Trimble, Paul Wellstone and Bruce Vento. 27 years after fleeing from Laos, she faced numerous challenges in achieving success in life. Having migrated to an alien country and winning a seat in the senate house was an extraordinary achievement. She was elected to represent district 67 in the special election held in February 2002 to fill the position vacated by St. Paul mayor-elect Randy Kelly. 'Getting a majority vote is very difficult here as voters are not enthusiastic to go to polling. Therefore, I personally met voters in my district and convinced them the value of their vote to me. I explained my plans to win a better tomorrow for the minority communities in Minnesota. In the same time, I sought their financial assistance to run my campaign as I was not financially sound to do so. My strategies were very successful and I obtained over 2000 votes as a result of my new campaign', Ms.Moua told Jefferson Fellows when they met Mee at her office in Minnesota Senate recently. She maintains constant contact with her constituents and she is ready to raise a voice for them in an effort to make a better tomorrow for the minority migrants in Minnesota. She is interested in issues such as economic development, community development, public safety, and decent housing and she is actively involved in achieving such targets in her capacity as a senator. Her special legislative concerns are education, housing, economic development, safety. She is the vice chair of the committees of transportation transportation budget division and health and family security. Mee is a recent past-president of the Hmong Bar Association and a founding member and board member of the Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce. She is married to a local businessman Nha Yee Chang, and they have two children. The last batch of over 15,000 Hmong refugees from Laos, who spent about 30 years in Thailand, are being resettled in the US. The root of the Hmong refugee experience lies in an alliance with American Cold War efforts in Laos. Since 1975, more than 200,000 Hmong have fled Laos as refugees. Because of their role in the US-led war in Laos, approximately 90 per cent of Hmong refugees have been resettled to the United States. The earliest Hmong refugees who fled the country consisted mainly of soldiers in the US-led army and their families. Because of their role in the US-led war in Laos the first flow to the United States included approximately 3,500 Hmong by December 1975. The 2000 Census counted 102,773 foreign born who self-identified as Hmong. Next: Stray plane in White House sky |
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