Faces of Immigration: DNA test reunites family

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Published: Dec. 14, 2011 Updated: 11:46 a.m.

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Faces of immigration

This profile is part of a regular series of vignettes that feature local people describing how immigration — legal and illegal — has affected their lives.

  

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Dat Le gives his mother Hoang a hug as he arrives at Los Angeles International Airport from Vietnam Dec. 6, 2011. After nearly a decade of separation, it took a DNA test to convince immigration officials to allow the 19-year-old to reunite with his mother Hoang of Santa Ana.

H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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By CINDY CARCAMO / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The day Hoang left Vietnam with her new Vietnamese-American fiancé, she knew it would take a while before she'd get the chance to petition for her 10-year-old son Dat Le to join her in the United States.
While she expected a long haul, she couldn't foresee the harsh road ahead, which included doing a DNA test to prove that Dat Le was truly her son.

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This profile is part of a regular series of vignettes that feature local people describing how immigration — legal and illegal — has affected their lives.
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If you have a story to tell, email the writer at ccarcamo@ocregister.com

An abusive relationship, near homelessness and a three-year battle with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials, who ultimately granted Dat a visa after the DNA test, culminated in a long-awaited reunion. Last week, mother and son reunited with hugs and tears at Los Angeles International Airport. Dat met his young half-sister, Jennifer Tran, for the first time.
"I just want to look forward to the future and do the best for my son and family," Hoang said a day after the reunion.
While Hoang doesn't like to dwell much in the past, she told her story to explain the happiness and relief she now feels with her son by her side.
"It was an ordeal for me to come to the U.S," she said in Vietnamese through her attorney and interpreter Christopher Phan.
In 2004, in love and hoping for a better future for her and especially Dat, Hoang arrived in Santa Ana on a fiancée visa. She had plans to learn English, find a good-paying job, and work for an eventual reunion with her son.
Instead, the separation from Dat was stressful and was made worse when her fiancé became abusive toward her and unsupportive in her quest to learn English and get a job, she said. At one point, Hoang said, her husband dropped his petition for her legal residency.
Destitute and relying on the help and advice of friends after she left her husband, Hoang managed to apply for a special visa designated for victims of abuse. She is now separated from her husband and looking for a divorce attorney.
The Register is withholding Hoang's last name because she said she fears for her life.
Eventually, Hoang moved in with a friend and learned to become a nail technician to help her earn a living. Days were spent working, and whenever she got a chance she'd call her son at least daily, asking him about his life.
Dat, now 19, said he never resented or thought about why his mother couldn't bring him to the U.S.
"I would just stand by the phone waiting for the call," Dat said a day after he arrived in the U.S.
Dat, who stayed behind at the behest of his biological father, said he focused as much as he could on preparing himself to join his mother. He concentrated on school and learned as much English as possible, he said.
At first he lived with his biological father but then had to move in with his grandparents when his father left him behind to start a family with a new woman. Dat's grandparents eventually died and he was left to fend for himself at age 12.
Hoang sent Dat whatever money she could for his living and school expenses. He eventually graduated from high school.
In 2008, she was granted legal residency and immediately began her search for an immigration attorney who could help her petition for her son. She found Phan, who did not charge Hoang for his work.
For about a year Phan said he heard nothing from immigration officials. After some prodding, immigration officials told him they needed more evidence that Hoang and Dat were related.
Phan said Dat's biological father had destroyed most of the family's photographs of Hoang and her son after the couple separated. So, essentially, there were no photos to show Hoang and Dat and their relationship to each other, Phan explained. Hoang only had a photo of her son but not one of them together.
After some back and forth, immigration officials came close to rejecting the application but gave Hoang one last chance — a DNA test.
There are few clinics in Vietnam with DNA testing, so Dat had to travel about 19 miles from his home in Ho Chi Minh City—formerly known as Saigon—by moped to get to the closest place with such capabilities, he explained.
Still, he said, he wasn't worried.
"I didn't think much about what they were asking because I knew I was my mom's son," he said.
Hoang said she also wasn't afraid to give her DNA but was somewhat concerned because her son could have been switched at birth. Phan said that is not an unusual occurrence in Vietnam.
"But I knew he was my son," Hoang said.
In late November, Phan notified Hoang that immigration officials had approved her petition. Last week, Hoang, Jennifer, and friends held up a large sign decorated with an American flag and the Statue of Liberty as they waited for Dat in an LAX receiving area. The sign read "Welcome to America, Dat Le."
Hoang said she is thankful to Phan and others who helped her get to this point.
Dat hopes to continue to with his education, perfect his English and join the military.
"I want to give back to the U.S.," he said.
This profile is part of a regular series of vignettes that feature local people describing how immigration — legal and illegal — has affected their lives.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7924 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com or www.twitter.com/thecindycarcamo
"Like" OC Register Immigration Facebook to see more news, information and conversation.

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