ABSTRACT
International migration occurs in a historical context: when migrants arrive can be more important for the adaptation process than the traits of individual migrants. The Indochinese migration to the US began when pro-American governments in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia collapsed. American intervention in Indochina began with support for Vietnamese guerrillas fighting Japanese occupation during World War Two. The arrival of Indochinese refugees is part of a larger, historical migration to the US Between World War Two and the capture of Saigon, the US received approximately 1.5 million political migrants. The largest migration cohorts are the Cubans who arrived between 1966 and 1972; 33 percent of the 1980 population was composed of Cubans migrants who resembled immigrants boarding planes for the US The Indochinese refugee migration to the US began just as three other currents of migration increased: immigrants, undocumented aliens, and asylum seekers.
