The Hmong community’s roots in the United States date back to the 1960s and the country’s imperial activities in Southeast Asia. Originally emigrating from China, the Hmong populated Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. In violation of the Geneva Accords, the CIA forces covertly recruited and trained Hmong during the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War to combat the rise of communism. After both communist forces won and the United States withdrew in 1975, abandoned Hmong communities fled backlash and persecution in Thailand. About 130,000 Hmong would flee to the United States. Today, Hmong communities in the U.S. can be mostly found in Wisconsin (MI,) the Twin Cities (MN,) Fresno, and Sacramento (CA.)
Siskiyou County lies approximately 260 miles north of Sacramento. Hmong communities began to migrate there in 2014. The latest census data shows that within a population of 45,000, 85% are white and 1.6% Asian American. Margiana Petersen-Rockney is an assistant professor at the University of Montana and is a research affiliate at UC Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. Through her work, she has collaborated with the Hmong community and came to understand how arriving at Siskiyou County was mostly due to low income. Having to migrate into racially segregated and low-income areas, many community members have had to work low-wage jobs like factory or farm work, which created what she referred to as “repetitive work injuries.”
“[They] had not been provided a lot of government support in that resettlement process,” she said. “[Many] are reaching retiring age and don’t have a lot of money, certainly things like pensions or retirement funds.”
This hurdle and the need to maintain community led them to buy lots in Siskiyou County for as cheap as $10,000. “A lot of people described moving there in order to own land,” Petersen-Rockney went on. “To be near the mountains, to be in a more rural landscape that reminded them of their…
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