AsianIndian..............Cerritos ..............3,017..............6% Cambodian..............LongBeach ..........20,262..............4% Chinese.................MontereyPark ........26,810.............45% Filipino .................Carson..............18,223.............20% Japanese ...............Gardena..............7,445.............13% Korean .................Cerritos ..............9,109.............18% PacificIslander ...........Carson...............3,401..............4% Vietnamese..............Rosemead ............7,175.............13%
The Khmer, also known as the Cambodian people, did not really begin to immigrate to the United States before 1975. By the year 1990 150,000 Cambodians had come to the United States. The Vietnam War led to countless suffering for the people of Cambodia. As the communists of North Vietnam spread further into the country of Cambodia, unfortunately so did the war. Finally, in 1979 the United States Refugee Program was created, which began allowing Cambodians into the USA from refugee camps in Thailand. Since 1975 the United States has set up many different programs to make immigration, resettlement and learning English easier for Cambodian immigrants. Today there are currently around 86,000 Cambodians living in the state of California, with the other top states being Massachusetts and Washington state. Nearly 20,000 of todays Cambodian population resides in the City of Long Beach CA. Long Beach now has the largest Cambodian population outside of Southeast Asia. However, the real question is why did this group of people decide to settle in the city of Long Beach?
Julllina Chhitch of the Cambodian Student Society at California State University Long Beach said “Cambodia Town has a very familiar feeling for our people. I have been to Cambodia and it reminds us of being back there. It also feels much safer to live with people of the same background. Many of the Cambodian people have dealt with a lot of damage from war, and like to try and stick together.” She definitely hits on many good points on why Long Beach has such a significant Cambodian population. There are a few explanations for why such a large portions of Cambodians in America live in Long Beach.
Originally, refugees from Cambodia following the Vietnam War arrived in California through Camp Pendleton Naval Base in San Diego CA. Only a small number of Cambodians even lived in California at this time. However, they did everything they could to help the new people arriving. This small group of people formed a organization named the Khmer Solidarity of America in order to help the war torn immigrants. This organization used a Long Beach address. Eventually, in 1975 it would become the Cambodian Association of America, which is still helping Cambodians in Long Beach today. This group personally helped the people who came through Camp Pendleton by moving them to Long Beach. Long Beach also provided many lower level industry jobs for the Cambodian immigrants at the time, along with many jobs at the port. The weather of Long Beach also allowed for the new immigrants to grow all of the foods they were used to, along with having many markets and restaurants Cambodians enjoyed because of the already large asian population. The city of Long Beach rapidly became known as a great place for new Cambodian immigrants to live. All this success for Cambodians in Long Beach, led to even more of the immigrants families moving to the Cambodian friendly city.
Amanda Sea, a current resident of Cambodia Town in Long Beach CA says Long Beach was the perfect place for her parents when they immigrated to the United States. “When my parents moved here they had nothing. What they did know is that there type of food, culture and people lived in Long Beach. It made it an obvious choice to live there. They felt at home here, even though they were in a brand new country.” As Long Beach continued to grow so did the Cambodian population within the city. Cambodians continued to come to Long Beach as the amount of Cambodian businesses grew, Buddhist Temples were built, more people who spoke Khmer came to the city and a growing system which allowed new immigrants to find easy work and places to live in a new country. Originally, the Cambodian population chose two different locations in Long Beach to live, North Long Beach and what has now become Cambodia Town along Anaheim Street with Redondo Avenue on the east and Long Beach Blvd. on the west. This area on Anaheim Street has had many names through the years including, Little Phnom Penh, Little Cambodia and Phnom Penh by the Sea. Finally, on July 3, 2007 this area along Anaheim Street was officially named Cambodia Town by the city of Long Beach.
Shafi Mith, another resident of Cambodia Town here in Long Beach was happy when it was finally officially recognized. “It was day of great pride for the Cambodian community here in Long Beach. It’s the kind of city many Cambodian immigrants like my parents always wished they could have lived in back home. Now we have our own town here in America.”
By: Joshua Saylor
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