<div>Since mid-January, ICE has been aggressively arresting and detaining immigrants all across the U.S. to fulfill Trump’s goal of carrying out the “largest deportation program” in American history. Among those at risk of detention and deportation are thousands of refugees who have called America home for decades, many of whom came to the U.S. as children, and are now raising children of their own. There are currently more than 8,600 people from Vietnam with removal orders in the U.S.
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<div>Having been in ICE custody for days, weeks, or months before their removal, deported Vietnamese and Montagnard Americans often arrive in Vietnam with little more than the clothes on their back. The luckier ones may have limited personal belongings if a loved one navigated the red tape of dropping off a suitcase to ICE before deportation. Upon arrival, deportees are met with no further support or any resettlement agency. Many also no longer have family in Vietnam, leaving them to navigate reintegration into an unfamiliar society alone. Making matters worse, most deported people lack the necessary identification card to access even essential services in Vietnam—and the process to obtain Vietnamese ID itself can be complex, expensive, and long.
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<div>The Ba Lô Project aims to provide returnees the support they need to start rebuilding their lives in Vietnam from day one. Our vision, grounded in the collective experiences of prior deported Vietnamese Americans and Montagnard Americans, is to begin with a simple act of community care. We want to gift every person deported to Vietnam with a starter backpack filled with items like medicine, socks, shoes, a toothbrush, a map, and a phone—essential items that other returnees wished they had after being torn from their communities in America and dropped into Vietnam.
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<div>To effectively carry out our mission, we need to hire 1-2 dedicated coordinators to meet community members at the airport, guide them through essential paperwork, and provide critical and trusted assistance as they begin to rebuild their lives.
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<div>Your gift, no matter the amount, will provide crucial support to those being forcibly returned to Vietnam under devastating circumstances. And it will help us create the organizational infrastructure needed to sustain this mutual aid to returnees, year round. With the volume of pending deportations to Vietnam, we need to think long-term. Thank you for your solidarity and community care.
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<div>Will you help us raise the seed money we need to build and serve? Our goal is $15,000 by April 6
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<div>**If you are an impacted community member, we have provided a FAQ to help you prepare. Please visit <a href="https://www.baloproject.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.baloproject.org.</a>
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<div>About Ba Lô Project -
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<div>We are a grassroots mutual aid project based in the U.S. Our formation has grown out of the desire to ensure that our deported siblings are not forgotten.
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<div>This fundraiser is supported by a team of 13 people in the diaspora who do not believe in the U.S. deportation machine and who believe that families should be together. We are professors, attorneys, impacted people, community organizers, nail industry professionals, workers, and so on.
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<div>Artwork by Tiffany Le, <a href="https://letealeaf.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://letealeaf.com/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://letealeaf.com/</a></a>
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Julia Rabinovich

Kelsey Morales

Anonymous

Eddy Nguyen

Anh Truc Dang

Kim Bui

An Huynh

Tara VanToai

Katlyn Firestone

Support our siblings deported to Vietnam!

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