Series Preface: Asian Media Access proudly presents “Calling America HOME” Series, inspired by the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon — a pivotal moment that not only marked the end of the Vietnam War but also sparked one of the largest refugee resettlements in U.S. history. This milestone serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience and hope shared by immigrants and refugees from all corners of the world who have rebuilt their lives in Minnesota. Through these stories, we invite readers to witness a legacy of survival, determination, and hope against impossible odds.
Our inaugural issue features Hao Nguyen, son of Vietnamese refugees, whose family’s harrowing escape from war-torn Vietnam led them through sponsorship by Catholic Charities to resettlement in Minnesota—and ultimately to his historic achievement as the first Asian American Division Director at the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. Nguyen’s narrative illuminates both the shared trauma and diverse pathways of Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese community members who survived war, endured refugee camps, and rebuilt lives with dignity in their adopted Minnesota home.
Q: Hao, thanks for taking time to do the interview with AMA. Please introduce yourself, and your experience settling in MN.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to share my experience. I am Hao Nguyen, son of Vietnamese refugee. On September 17, of 1982 my twin sister and I were born in Saigon Vietnam. For those of us who fled the country as refugees in our hearts and spirit the city will always be known as Saigon. Our family had a difficult and humble beginning. After my sister passed away, my father left. It was my mother who stood tall and strong taking care of me and my two older brothers. The four of us tried to flee the country several times but were unsuccessful. By my seventh birthday we had all but given up on getting out. A little more about our family, my two older brothers are my half-brothers, one of Vietnamese and Filipino decent and the other Vietnamese and the son of an American Solider. For my eldest brother his existence as half white and half Vietnamese was a reminder to Vietnam of America’s occupation during the Vietnam War. Half Vietnamese and half white children were commonly referred to and became known as children of the dust.
These children were castaway and treated badly, becoming street beggers, abused and neglected by a country that wanted to move on from the war. My mother was keenly aware of all of this and so that is why she tried so hard to get us out of the country. After our fourth failed attempt of fleeing the country by boat, my mother had all but given up. But then came word of a miracle, she learned about an Act of Congress, America had created something called The Amerasian Immigration Act. This act of congress allowed for certain Amerasian children fathered by American soldiers the opportunity of entry to the United States. The Amerasian Immigration Act allowed for Amerasian children and their immediate family members a pathway out of war-torn Vietnam. My mother applied and we were approved refugee status to enter the refugee camps of the Philippine Islands. Between the ages of seven and nine, I lived with my mother and two brothers in the Bantaan Refugee camps, though I was young I still recall those very difficult days.
After living for two years in the refugee camps our family received word that we had been sponsored by Catholic Charities and would be allowed to come to America. A catholic church still in existence today, Saint Anthony’s Catholic parish out of Saint Cloud, Minnesota was our sponsor. For a family born from the equator, getting off the airplane in the middle of the winter was the shock of a lifetime. We arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota and then traveled to Saint Cloud. There we settled into low-income housing apartments and then later moved to a trailer park.
A word about gratefulness, though our journey up to that point had been hard and to be sure our beginnings in the U.S. were difficult. I will always be ever thankful to the kindness that America gave to me and my family. I will always be grateful for the opportunity of a lifetime to become an American. Growing up in Saint Cloud was a culture shock, we didn’t speak English, we didn’t know how things worked (mail, school, doctor’s offices, you name it we had no idea how to do it) on top of that we were very poor. Our family was on food stamps and relied on food shelves. I remember those early days vividly, often times my mom who worked the night shift at the local poultry processing plant would ask us boys which bills we should pay and which ones we should leave behind for next month. We would talk as a family about what food we could afford, which ones though expired may still be good enough to eat. Those early days taught me many things, but most importantly those days taught me about my mother’s endurance and strength. The heart and resilience of the Asian woman I called mom never wavered, the best lesson I learned from those early days of being in America was that you can make something out of nothing. You can always reinvent yourself in America.
Q: Those are so valuable experiences, as Asian American growing up in the Midwest town, any challenges for you?
Growing up in say Saint Cloud Minnesota in the early 1990s as one of the only Asian families made for an interesting coming of age story. On the one hand the American dream was just above the horizon, the promise of if you just work hard enough and get lucky enough you can be anything you want to be in America. But the reality of the situation is you’re poor, you don’t speak the language, you look different than most of those around you, and you realize when you look to your left and to your right you’re much further behind than you ever knew. The journey to flee from Vietnam to survive the refugee camps and to arrive in America was already daunting enough but the realization that you are just starting over behind in every way made the challenge even more daunting. In the school system I often remembered being bullied and made fun of.
I remember being on free school lunch and public assistance, the times that my mom could afford to give me lunch I often hid it away eating it outside before our school lunch period. Always ashamed and embarrassed of the Asian food that my mom packed for me. Growing up from kindergarten all the way through high school it was truly a journey of discovering who I was as an Asian American, as a child of war and as a person who wanted to realise the American dream, to never squander the gift of what my mom had worked so hard to do, of what America gave us. Candidly speaking my childhood and early adolescence in America all the way to my senior year as a high school student or truly some of the most difficult times of my life. I wanted so badly to assimilate to the American culture that there were moments where I denied my heritage and tried to separate and move away from my ancestry. Today I know that the source of my strength and success is because of who I am and where I came from. I will never look away or deny that part of myself again.
I wasn’t the traditional Asian American student that TV and magazines portrayed. I wasn’t a high academic achiever and certainly didn’t graduate in the top 10% of my class with a tiger mom waiting at home. I graduated nearly at the bottom of my graduating high school class, I scored in the mid-teens on my ACTs, and my plan was never to go to college let alone law school. My plan was to remain in Saint Cloud and to get a job working at the local refrigerator manufacturing plant. That job was going to pay over $17.00 an hour, and it was going to be more money than my family ever had, to me that was going to be a bright future. Now there’s nothing to say that there’s anything wrong with working hard in a blue-collar job, or that it can’t produce a wonderful meaningful life. My mom was a blue-collar worker and she built us a very fine and lovely life.
But for me I am glad that a different path developed. During my senior year I saw friends and classmates talk about their acceptance letters to the colleges that they would ultimately attend. I realized that I had squandered the gift that was given to me and my family, and that was the gift of opportunity in a beautiful new land. So, I went to Saint Cloud State University and pleaded my case with the admissions office asking them to take a chance on me and to allow me to attend their school. I did not qualify in any sense of the word with regard to their admissions requirements for college, but the team gave me the opportunity and saw that I might have a future, allowing me to enter Saint Cloud State University on 2 terms of academic probation. I took that opportunity very seriously and graduated with honours from Saint Cloud State University.
After graduating from undergrad, I wanted to give back to the community that had given me so much, so I became a police officer. It was a wonderful job being able to respond to members of the community who were in need. The job taught me that I could be of service to those who were having the worst moments of their lives, I handled calls from 911 dispatch, responding in a squad car an uniform helping those get through some of the very toughest moments. After wearing the uniform for about 5 years, I wanted to pursue Graduate School specifically I wanted to obtain my law school degree. It was always a goal of mine ever since becoming a police officer to perhaps become a lawyer prosecutor one day. I took the law school entrance exam was accepted into Hamline University School of law and four short years later I was a licensed attorney. I immediately went to work as a prosecutor holding those accountable for crimes, they committed. I’ve been a prosecutor now for 15 years having had the experience of handling all types of cases from domestic assault to sexual violence cases and murder. I am the Division Director for the Ramsey County attorney’s office in the city of Saint Paul Minnesota. I managed the largest division in our office.
Q: Thanks for sharing, love you mentioned – “the gift of opportunity in a beautiful new land,” I bet millions of immigrants and refugees would fully agree with you. So besides breaking the bamboo ceiling serving as the Division Director for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, received Outstanding Contribution Award by the Governor’s Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, and the Carnegie Medal in 2024, and what’s next??
Back in September 2025 the current Hennepin County attorney announced that they would be stepping down from their position leaving an open seat. I then announced my candidacy an intention to run for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. I am running for Hennepin County attorney because the people of Hennepin County deserve an experienced prosecutor and public servant. The current political climate in Hennepin County forces everyday citizens to choose between safety and fairness. I believe it is the job of the Hennepin County attorney to provide both safety and fairness. I believe the government should not make those who they seek to serve choose between the safety and equity. I also know that my humble beginnings in life and my experiences as a refugee immigrant allows me to understand and relate to those who live at the margins of society.
My vision for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is to make it once again a premiere public service office, it is the largest county attorney’s office in the state of Minnesota, it handles the most cases, it impacts over 1.3 million citizens a year. Currently there is a communication and trust problem. The Hennepin County Attorney’s office needs to rebuild and maintained healthy and trusted relationships with all its partners. I will open lines of communication with the courts, community advocacy groups, law enforcement and seek to elevate the voices of victims of crime. My vision for the Hennepin County attorney’s office is one that’s focused on public safety and accountability. I want to end day today nuisance crimes. As a prosecutor for nearly 15 years, I have learned that your everyday low-level crimes such as auto theft, burglaries, and vandalism impact the quality of life of everyday people. I think it’s an easy thing to say that one should focus on violent crime, which by the way absolutely is necessary but my experience tells me that every day quality of life crimes should also be addressed in order to ensure that everyone can move about our community in a safe, enjoyable and free manner.
Q: Can you expand more, since we are in this new era for substantial federal funding and services cut, how can we all work together to better support members in need?
I wish it wasn’t the reality that funding and budget cuts didn’t impact the services that we are able to provide to those in need. What I can say is that if elected to the Hennepin County attorney’s office, I will work with the county board, with the court and justice partners to ensure that we all work together to share the weight of responsibility, together seeking solutions and thereby ensuring that public safety and accountability are met. The County Attorney needs support from law enforcement, the community, courts, and advocacy groups to maximize resources. I’m an immigrant and a refugee who knows how to make a little stretch into a lot, so that we can go far together. For me budget cuts and lack of funding will never come at the cost of public safety. One of my very first priorities if elected is to advocate for continued funding and shared resources so that we all may serve the community that we are elected to help and support.
Q: Can’t let you go, without asking your perspective for the current violence incidents in Minneapolis, can you share more of your viewpoints on that?
Hennepin county in the last few years has experienced a rise in violent carjackings, vehicle break ends, vandalism and theft. Moreover, there are examples of the gun violence happening openly on the streets, of shootings and murders occurring in some of the most vulnerable and sacred areas of our community, to include the places that we should feel the safest including our homes schools and public institutions.
A prosecutor’s office needs to be led by an experienced prosecutor, someone who knows what it’s like to speak with victims of crime, someone who understands the loss and pain of those who have suffered from violence. I am that experienced prosecutor, I am that experience public servant who knows how to try serious cases before a jury. I am that experienced leader who knows how to supervise a large government office. The fact that I am a person of color, a refugee, and that I understands what it’s like to come from humble beginnings added to my nearly 20 years of public safety experience makes me the right choice to be the next the Hennepin County Attorney. It is a responsibility that I take very seriously.
I will end where I began America gave me so much and by the grace of God, I wish to do what I have always done and that is to give back to a community that has given me so much. If elected I will strive every day to ensure that everyone in our community is safe and treated fairly. I can’t do this alone; I need everyone’s help. Thank you so much!
Q: Thank YOU so much, Hao for sharing your refugee story and your vision for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Best of luck on the campaign trail.
FMI: If members are interested in connecting with Hao, please visit his website at Hao4Hennepin.com, and on Instagram at Hao4Hennepin. If members are interested in sharing their own immigrant and refugee stories with Asian Media Access, please connect with us at amamedia@amamedia.org.
