Laotian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to Laos. Laotian Americans are included in the larger category of Asian Americans. The major immigrant generation were generally refugees who escaped Laos during the warfare and disruption of the 1970s, and entered refugee camps in Thailand across the Mekong River. They emigrated to the United States during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.
Wat Lao Buddharam, Hampshire, IL
Angelina Messina at the 2020/2021 Olympic Trials in Omaha
Dawson Sihavong at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia
Hmong Americans are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s. Over half of the Hmong population from Laos left the country, or attempted to leave, in 1975, at the culmination of the Laotian Civil War.
A memorial in front of Fresno County Court House commemorating Hmong service.
Hmong Americans at a community recycling event in Saint Paul
Providence (Rhode Island) Hmong Church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance