US, Vietnam sign deal to repatriate illegal immigrants

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

HANOI (AFP) — The United States and Vietnam have signed a memorandum of understanding on the repatriation of Vietnamese illegal immigrants from the United States, the US embassy said Tuesday.

Under the agreement signed in Hanoi, "Vietnamese nationals who arrived in the United States illegally on or after July 12, 1995 are subject to return" to the communist Southeast Asian country, the embassy said in a statement.

US Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie Myers and Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung signed the MOU in Hanoi, the statement said.

"Agreements such as this are the building blocks of diplomacy," said Myers. "This agreement allows us to carry out a judge's order to remove individuals from...