In South Philly, Tet arrives with joy for the new year - and worry over ICE enforcement

The Tet holiday roared into South Philadelphia on Sunday, accompanied by fast-stepping lion dancers and the sweet scent of incense – but also by trepidation over the future of Vietnamese residents who may be vulnerable to deportation.

Hundreds of young, older and elderly people gathered inside a steamy Furness High School gym to welcome the new year with music and song. Children happily accepted lucky-money envelopes, and high school boys pitched balls at tin-can targets, trying to impress the girls with their carnival-game prowess.

But on their shirts many wore stickers that declared the neighborhood an "ICE-free zone," warning of unwelcome visits from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. On the walls, posters in English and Vietnamese offered a checklist of what people should do if federal agents arrive at their door.

The day juxtaposed new year's joy and anti-deportation activism, providing a snapshot of how the nation's immigration policies are rapidly changing and how some of the most vulnerable people are responding – and resisting. Activists say that, in recent months, they have seen roundups of people of Cambodian and Vietnamese heritage, stoking fear, uncertainty and anger.

"This is what a strong community looks like!" Nancy Dung Nguyen, executive director of VietLead, said from the stage. "This is what solidarity looks look!"

Nearby, 18-year-old Toan Vong, a senior at South Philadelphia High, staffed an immigration-information booth, handing out pamphlets and stickers and talking to people about the changing nature of federal enforcement.

"I care about my community, and this is a way I can help them, let people know how to protect themselves," he said.

His colleague, Thy Vu, 22, said she planned to help go door-to-door, canvassing the neighborhood.

"A lot of people in the Vietnamese community don't know what's happening," she said.

The Trump administration's ever-stricter enforcement policies can seem focused on Latino communities, the president having promised to build a wall at the border with Mexico and assailed immigrants from there, labeling them rapists and drug dealers.

But Southeast Asians face their own struggle, one in which the wars and violence of the past continue to shape the present and future. In the 1970s and '80s, more than a million refugees were resettled in the United States as they fled the war in Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia and Laos, and the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.

In this country, many suffered – from poverty, post-traumatic stress disorder, lower levels of education, and higher rates of criminalization, according to the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, known as SEARAC, an advocacy group with offices in California and Washington. Some were convicted of criminal offenses, which generally make foreign nationals liable to deportation.

Historically, Vietnam did not accept deportees from the United States, its old adversary.

That changed in 2008, when the U.S. and Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding. It allowed for Vietnamese who came to America on or after July 12, 1995 – when diplomatic relations were established – to be deported if they had pending orders of removal. Even earlier, in 1996, Congress had passed two laws that broadened the scope of criminal convictions that made both undocumented and legal immigrants subject to deportation.

Now, immigration advocates say they fear the Trump administration is not honoring the memorandum, that anyone who is undocumented, overstayed a visa, or carries an old criminal record is in danger of deportation. Cambodian Americans who had removal orders were detained in October, and the next month SEARAC, VietLead and other groups issued an alert that Vietnamese Americans with final orders could face arrest and deportation.

Almost 16,000 Southeast Asian Americans have received final orders of removal since 1998, of which 78 percent are based on old criminal convictions, according to a SEARAC study.

"Under this White House, everyone is considered a priority for deportation – especially those with prior criminal records," said Katrina Dizon Mariategue, SEARAC's immigration policy manager. "We have heard that we can expect a record number of deportations to Cambodia in 2018."

The administration imposed visa sanctions on Cambodia to push the government to accept more deportees, Dizon Mariategue noted. And it rescinded Obama-era guidelines on prosecutorial discretion, which had enabled advocates and families to argue that a loved one was no threat to public safety and thus not a priority for deportation, she said.

That impacts Philadelphia, where the Southeast Asian population is significant, including about 17,000 Vietnamese, 9,000 Cambodians, 1,100 Laotians, 400 Thai and 77 Hmong.

That diversity was on display at the Furness event, co-sponsored by VietLead and the Vietnamese American Community of Greater Philadelphia.

The day began in silence, as people paused to honor the American and South Vietnamese troops who gave their lives in the war. Then the celebration commenced. The food smelled heavenly and tasted better. Children made paper lanterns, and toddlers were posed for pictures beside the giant papier-maché lion heads.

It's not just the Year of the Dog, organizers said, but the Year of the Underdog – referring not only to —the Eagles. A time for strengthening roots and building resilience for what's ahead.

"We're celebrating together, grounding each other, loving each other, and having that energy to move forward," Nguyen said. "2018 is going to be a really important year for this country and this state."