Mr. Loc Nguyen, a Social Advocate of the Vietnamese American community, served for 41 years as the Director of the Immigration and Refugee Department of Catholic Charities, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Born in South Vietnam, after college Mr. Nguyen was drafted into the South Vietnamese Armed Forces, where he became a war correspondent for almost three years. In 1975, he was advised to depart Vietnam before the Communists from North Vietnam took over, which he did. Mr. Nguyen fled to the United States and became a political refugee.
As a Director of the Immigration and Refugee Department of Catholic Charities, Mr. Nguyen fought for justice, promoted immigration laws in defending immigrants and refugees’ interests. He’s traveled to numerous refugee camps in the world and has helped resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees as well as helped hundreds of thousands of family members reunite in the United States. Mr. Nguyen became a well-known advocate and activist in the Vietnamese communities, not only in the United States, but worldwide.
Due to his continuing advocacy efforts for the refugee community, Mr. Nguyen has received recognition and awards from US Senators John McCain, US Representatives: Howard L. Berman, Xavier Becerra, Adam Schiff, David Dreier, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Zoe Lofgren…, California Governors Pete Wilson & Gray Davis, California Senate Resolution #341, CA Senators John Nell Soto, Joe Dunn, John Seymour, Lou Correa, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Asian Pacific Family Center, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services, County of Los Angeles, City of Westminster, Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, Los Angeles and Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Nguyen’s fundraising efforts includes organizing fundraising activities and important gatherings such as Rock the Vote, and musical concerts to raise funds to build the Vietnamese and American Veterans Memorial in California, Texas, Florida, etc. He’s promoted and helped with the fundraising activities throughout the USA, Canada, and Australia to help Syrian, Afghanistan, Ukraine as well as Vietnamese refugees. Also assisting Disabled Veterans of the former Republic of Vietnam, who still suffer in Vietnam, and to build a Memorial for Victims of Communism in Washington DC.
In 2005, Mr. Nam Loc Nguyen was selected by The Orange County Register as one of the “Thirty to Watch – Leaders of the Future;” and his life was the subject of an independent film, “Green Dragon” based on his experiences as a refugee more than 40 years ago. In 2007, Mr. Nam Loc Nguyen received, along with actress Salma Hayek, the “Immigrant Family Advocate Award” from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). Also in 2010, the Office of Refugee Resettlement / U.S. Department of Health and Human Services honored him with the “Excellence in Leadership Award” for his significant contribution and services to the refugee communities throughout the world.
In addition to all the efforts mentioned above, for the past 20 years, Mr. Nguyen uses his innate abilities in assisting his fellow countrymen in numerous weekly Radio talk shows and Television programs on Immigration / Refugee and Social Services.
