Hmong community celebrates naming of first judge

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Apr 21, 2014

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Hmong community celebrates naming of first judge

Members of the Hmong community came to the US as refugees after the Vietnam War. Many settled in the Central Valley, where they've struggled at times to fit in.

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 23: Exhausted Hmong refugees get ready to board a bus for Fresno after arriving on the first chartered aircraft carrying 289 Hmong passengers to the Los Angeles airport on August 23, 2004 in Los Angeles California. Thousands of Hmong refugees who fled Laos for Thailand 30 years ago are preparing for a new life in America after the U.S government announced it was launching a resettlement program for up to 15,000 Hmong living in the refugee camp northeast of Bangkok. The actual movement of the Hmong from the camp to their new home, including medical screening, and necessary cultural orientation classes is facilitated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The Hmong who often live on the margins of society in Thailand have had many problems with food, health and education because of lack of money. Since the migration started, over 1,500 Hmong have departed so far to America. The historical migration to the USA will finally close a painful chapter for many of the refugees who had sought safety in Thailand after the Vietnam war where as many as 40,000 Hmong were fighting for the Americans in Laos. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Members of the Hmong community came to the US as refugees after the Vietnam War. Many settled in the Central Valley, where they've struggled at times to fit in.

Members of the Hmong community came to the U.S. as refugees after the Vietnam War. Many settled in the Central Valley, where they've struggled at times to fit in.

But they're now celebrating a big step into the melting pot of American culture. Alice Daniel from the California Report reports on a lawyer in Merced County, Paul Lo, who has become the nation's first Hmong judge.