Escaping post-war persecution from Communist forces, Hmong refugees from Laos moved to the United States in the 1970s and 80s, first settling in Merced and other areas in the Central Valley of California.[1][2] The Hmong quickly could not initially take part in farming like they had expected, as the land was owned by other people.[2] They could not get high end agricultural jobs because they did not speak sufficient English and Mexican migrants already held low end agricultural jobs. As such, a great portion of Merced’s Hmong collected social services and Hmong gangs arose, prompting other residents to perceive them as being the cause of economic troubles.[3] As the Hmong settlement matured and the Hmong children gained English language skills, the town's overall attitude began to be more accepting of the Hmong community.[2]
This acceptance is reflected in various services provided to the Hmong community. This includes the Merced Lao Family Community Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides social services to Hmong people,[4] the Merced Department of Public Health’s MATCH (Multidisciplinary Approach to Cross-Cultural Health) program, intending to co-opt Hmong patients into the health care system,[5][6] a body of Hmong-speaking faculty and paraprofessionals (including college classes on Hmong culture and language),[7][8] and media outlets for the Hmong community—cable television channel Channel 11 broadcasts programming to the Hmong community twice per week and radio station KBIF 900 AM airs programming oriented towards Hmong people.[9]
While Merced has historically had a proportionally large portion of Hmong (in 1997, 12,000 of Merced’s 61,000 residents were Hmong[10]), demographic shifts have reduced this. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 prompted a move of some Hmong to Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. More recently, many Hmong have gone to Alaska to work in crabbing and fishing industries require little proficiency in English. [2]
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