Amerasian Homecoming Act: Allows Vietnamese Amerasians and specified members of their family to enter the United States as immigrants, while retaining eligibility for refugee benefits (Debonis: 287).
ARVN: The army of the republic of Viet Nam.
Charlie: Viet Cong
Cluster Sites: American cities which, by virtue of their adequate resettlement and social services, receive large numbers of Amerasian free-cases. There are 55 sites. (DeBonis: 286)
Community and Family Services International (CFSI): Implements a program for mental health for refugees in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. (DeBonis: 286)
Con Lai/ My-Lai = Person of mixed blood... often used in a derogatory manner (DeBonis: 286). "American half-breed," a term used to refer to Vietnamese Amerasians. -(McKelvey: 124)
Gold Case: A term used in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center to denote a Vietnamese family that has "bought" an Amerasian (DeBonis: 286).
Household Register: A document in which the names of all the people residing in a given household appear... authorities often revoked the household register of families they wished to force into New Economic Zones (DeBonis: 286).
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS): Interviews applicants (in Viet Nam) for asylum in the United States and rules on their eligibility. (DeBonis: 287)
International Catholic Migration Commision (ICMC): In PRPC, offers English as second language (ESL), Cultural orientation (CO), and Work Orientation (WO) classes for refugees (Debonis: 287).
Lai den: Black Amerasian
My den: Black American, but used to refer to black Amerasian in Viet Nam (DeBonis: 288).
Monkey house: Prison, jail, reeducation camp, and detention center at the PRPC (DeBonis: 288).
New Economic Zones (NEZ) = Previously unsettled or sparsely settled regions in Vietnam to which former South Vietnamese military and officials, their families, Amerasians, and others were sent as settlers to expand Vietnam's cultivatable land and reduce urban crowding. - (McKelvey: 124)
Orderly Departure Program: Created in 1979 to provide a safe alternative to dangerous flight from Viet Nam by boat. ODP officers interview applicants in Sai Gon for resettlement in sponsor countries. (Debonis: 288)
Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC): Refugee camp in Philippines which Southeast Asian refugees already accepted for resettlement in the United States are sent to complete a 5-6 month educational program including ESL, CO, and WO (DeBonis: 288).
Reeducation Camp: Camp in which "undesirables," mainly those previously associated with the South Vietnamese regime are imprisoned and subjected to forced labor and political indoctrination (DeBonis: 289).
Sponsor: American citizen, resident, or agency that agrees to help a specific refugee or refugee family resettle. (DeBonis: 289)
DeBonis, Steven. Children of the Enemy: Oral Histories of Vietnamese Amerasians and Their Mothers. 1995. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. Print.
