Refugee Stranded at LAX Finds a Temporary Home

A homesick Vietnamese refugee stranded at Los Angeles International Airport since Sept. 20 after losing his travel documents has traded his terminal sleeping space for a new temporary home.

Airport officials said Friday they have arranged for the 47-year-old Montagnard villager to stay in a West Los Angeles homeless shelter until U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials can replace his lost refugee travel papers and identification card.

The villager was among 900 Montagnards relocated in 2002 to North Carolina. He had arrived at LAX with two others from Charlotte, N.C., on the first leg of a trip they hoped would take them to Ho Chi Minh City. Then he lost his papers.

His companions continued their trip, but the villager was stranded at the Tom Bradley International Terminal until an airport police officer noticed him sleeping in an arriving-passengers waiting area.

Airport employees and terminal workers befriended the man, who speaks only an obscure Vietnamese tribal dialect. They brought him food from home, bought him meals at airport restaurants and provided showers and a bed.

Airport administrators have not identified him at the request of immigration officials and resettlement experts worried about his safety.

LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles said the shelter is providing meals and semi-private accommodations.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) has offered to help expedite replacement of his documents, which normally takes about three months, Castles said.