[1] The act increased Vietnamese Amerasian immigration to the U.S. because it allowed applicants to establish a mixed race identity by appearance alone.
Additionally, the American Homecoming Act allowed the Amerasian children and their immediate relatives to receive refugee benefits.
[5] The law prioritized U.S. immigration to children fathered by U.S. citizens including from Korea, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
[7] Additionally, since the U.S. and Vietnam's governments did not have diplomatic relations, the law could not be applied to Vietnamese Amerasian children.
The ODP created a system where South Vietnamese soldiers and others connected to the U.S. war effort could emigrate from Vietnam to the United States.
[8] The act was significant, because it allowed applicants to establish a mixed race identity by appearance alone.
[citation needed] The American Homecoming Act operated through the Orderly Departure Program in the respective U.S. embassies.
[6] The U.S. Attorney General in conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State submitted program reports to the U.S. Congress every three years.
The American Homecoming Act excluded Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.
In 1993, a class action lawsuit was filed in the International Court of Complaints to establish Filipino Amerasian children's rights to assistance.
Some accounts include a Vietnamese woman who attempted to claim American citizenship for her Amerasian son, but the father denied the relationship and responsibility by calling her a prostitute.
[6] Many Amerasian children account for their struggles in public school and very few attended higher education.
Additionally the children faced judgment from the new socialist Vietnamese officials and other neighbors since their features positioned them as reminders of the "old enemy.