Open Letter to Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Cc: The White House
From: College Students across the U.S.
Dear Honorable Secretary Rubio,
For decades, college students have been at the forefront of advocating for peace, including during the Vietnam War, when young people across the U.S. mobilized in mass protests against the conflict. Their activism played a crucial role in shifting public opinion and inspiring policymakers to end the war. Today, we, as college students deeply invested in global humanitarian efforts, continue that legacy by urgently asking you, Honorable Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to take immediate action to lift the 90-day stop-work order on U.S. foreign assistance programs, particularly those focused on demining, victim assistance, and explosive ordnance risk education. This critical support is a lifeline for vulnerable communities and must not be delayed. This year will mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the 30th anniversary of normalized U.S.-Vietnam relations, and the 40th anniversary of U.S.-Laos collaboration on MIA recovery. Our ties with Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were built through reconciliation and humanitarian efforts. Allowing these gains to be undone risks sending a chilling message: that America’s word is worthless, its commitments fleeting, and its moral leadership for sale.
This issue is deeply personal to us. As many of us are children of refugees, we understand firsthand the generational impact of war’s devastation. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) from past U.S. military campaigns continues to claim innocent lives in Southeast Asia, preventing communities from rebuilding and forcing many families into cycles of poverty. Our history should motivate us to act, yet this freeze signals an abandonment of the very commitments that have helped war-affected regions recover. The continued clearance of UXO not only fulfills a moral obligation but strengthens America’s diplomatic relationships with nations such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, where war legacies have long shaped bilateral ties.
Since 1989, the U.S. has invested just over $1.5 billion in UXO removal, dioxin remediation, and disability support in Southeast Asia—an amount equal to just six days of U.S. military spending during the Vietnam War. The U.S. has recovered 1,046 of the 2,634 Americans missing in action (MIA) across Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This effort laid the foundation for broader war legacy collaboration, which is now in jeopardy. In addition, U.S.-supported demining teams in Vietnam and Laos have been forced to halt operations, affecting 1,000 deminers in Vietnam and nearly 4,000 in Laos. This will negatively impact untrained villagers who may attempt to handle explosives on their own, increasing the likelihood of deadly accidents.
In Laos, over 100 requests for UXO clearance have been received in the past two weeks, but none can be addressed due to the stop-work order. Laos remains the most bombed country per capita in history, with over 2.5 million tons of ordnance dropped. Yet, an estimated 10% of contaminated land has been cleared. UXO casualties in Laos have dramatically decreased from 300 per year before 2008 to 60 or fewer in the past decade due to the U.S.-funded mine action programs. The aid freeze halts this progress.
In Vietnam, Children with disabilities in, including those affected by Agent Orange, have had their rehabilitation services suspended due to the aid freeze. Without these services, their mobility and development will deteriorate.
In Cambodia: Landmines and unexploded ordnance killed nearly 20,000 people and injured more than 45,000 others from 1979 to 2024. In January 2025, two miners with the government-run Cambodian Mine Action Centre were killed by an anti-tank mine near the Thai-Cambodia border.
Suspending these programs would not only endanger thousands of lives but also undermine decades of U.S. investment in security, stability, and diplomacy, allowing other nations like China to step into a leadership position. China has provided a grant to help a Cambodian project clearing land mines and unexploded bombs days after the freeze on payments by USAID to its partners had forced it to suspend work. This raises concerns surrounding China's handling of U.S. bombs.
While we understand the importance of responsible fiscal oversight, halting these programs for three months is not just a bureaucratic delay—it is a matter of life and death. Landmines and UXO continue to maim and kill civilians, with nearly 15 people—half of them children—falling victim to these remnants of war every day around the world. These hazards do not disappear with time; rather, they persist for generations, preventing families from returning home, limiting agricultural development, and destabilizing entire regions.
We call on you to act swiftly, reconsider the suspension of these programs, and ensure that the U.S. continues its vital role in clearing landmines, assisting survivors, and building a more stable, peaceful world. The consequences of inaction are dire—please stand with us and the countless individuals whose lives depend on the continuation of these life-saving programs.
Jonathan Lam, Cornell University, RFK Human Rights John Lewis Young Leader Fellow, Legacies of War (Intern), Child of Vietnamese Refugees
Gabriela Garlo, University of Dayton Human Rights Center Intern, Legacies of War Intern
Indigo Hu, Stanford University, Child of Laotian and Chinese refugees
Dillon Sipayboun, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Child of Lao refugees
Andy Phommachanthone, Harrisburg Community College
Vincen Zhang , Penn State
Wilson Ta, University of Washington, Child of Vietnamese and Nung Refugees
Sela Quiniones, American University, Child of Filipino immigrant
Natisha Gudala, Lancaster Bible College
Tina Dao, American University, Southeast Asia Student Network at American University, Child of Vietnamese refugees
Thayvarath Chaleunsouk
Nina Unabia, American University School of International Service, SEANET AU
Leonard Machesic, Susquehanna University
Katherine Koychev, Harrisburg Area Community College
Jordan Lac, Brown University, Child of Vietnamese Refugees
Nafisi Tian, Cornell University
Mena Vo, UC Irvine, Child of Vietnamese refugees
Soha Khan, Cornell University
Taeyoung Kim, Cornell University
Abigail Niquette, Claremont McKenna College
Feifei Hung, Cornell University
Navjot Kaur, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Lynn Nguyen, Community College of Philadelphia, Child of Vietnamese Refugees
Angela Lacerna, Franklin & Marshall College alumna
Gauri Bhatia, University of Pittsburgh, Amnesty International
Ijeoma Ogbonna, University of Iowa
Ayesha Mohammed, Northwestern
Kaltrina Lici, Florida Gulf Coast University
Maggie Lin, Stony Brook University, Child of Chinese refugees
Soha Mursalien, Brandeis University
Jennifer Phan, Swarthmore College, Organizing to Redefine Asian Activism, Swarthmore Pan-Asian Association, and the National Activism Association, Child of Vietnamese Refugees
Hannah Phommachanthone, Drexel University, Child of Laotian Immigrants
Madeline Svengsouk, Bryn Mawr College Alumni, Child of Lao & Vietnamese immigrants
Amy Liu, Yale School of Public Health, Child of Chinese Immigrants
Crystal Yeh, UPenn, Child of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants
Armand Cuevas, UC Berkeley and Johns Hopkins alumni, Child of Filipino immigrants
Melise Ke, Franklin University, Child of Cambodian refugees
Michelle Wei, University of Pittsburgh
Emily Phonhsongkham , SDSU Alumni, Dok Kulap Sinlapakorn, Child of Laotian Refugees
Chinaza Politis, Cornell University
Chau Mai Dang, Denison University Alumni
Sloane Ludloff, Orange Coast College
Malissa Bouakham, University of Kentucky Alumni, Child of Laotian Immigrants
Hannah Mayer, George Washington University, Tulane University alumna, Grandparents are Jewish refugees from Germany
Grace Yoon, Cornell University, Child of South Korean Immigrants
Kayla Latt, George Mason University, Child of Myanmar immigrants
Sojin Shin, Franklin & Marshall (alumn), First gen immigrant
Karthik Jandhyala, University of California Santa Barbara, Child of Indian Immigrants
Marian Alvarez, Cornell University, Child of Cuban and Venezuelan Immigrants
Morielle Mamaril, Cornell University, Child of Filipino Immigrants
Henry Doran, University of Dayton
Sakura Chan, Case Western Reserve University, Child of Japanese and Chinese immigrants
Jewelry Keodara, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Alum. Legacies of War, SEARAC, Child of Lao Refugees
Aiken Wang, Yale University
Arthi Venkatakrishnan, UPenn, Child of Indian Immigrants
Nicholas Schulz, University of Dayton
David Percival, Southern Illinois University
Katie McGowan, Dominican College alumni
Anna Neubauer, Mount Holyoke College
Emma Muller Stanford, AIUSA
Madeline Rose, Cornell University
Divya Tadanki, Georgia Tech, Amnesty International, Child of Indian Immigrants
Akira Son, University of California, Berkeley, Southeast Asian Development Center , Child of Laotian and Vietnamese Refugees
Alice Truong, University of the Pacific alumn, Child of Vietnamese refugees
Sophia Weinzinger, ASU
Erin Wall, University of California Berkeley
Nairi Melikian , California State University- Northridge, Alumni
Cameron Zielinski, Arizona State Alumni, Chi Omega alumni
Vi-Anh Hoàng, ASU Alumni, Child of Vietnamese War Refugees
Chao Angela Nachampassak, Arizona State University Alumni , Legacies of War Volunteer, Child of Laotian Immigrants
Elizabeth Le, University of Arizona, Child of immigrants
Shayla Sakkakhanaune, Whittier College, Child of a Lao Refugee
Anthony Chavoya, Whittier College
Jessica Aghoian, Fresno State
Anica Falcone-Juengert, Whittier College
Angelina Nkauj Noog Lee, Fresno State, Child of Hmong Immigrants
Evan Godley, Whittier College, Child of a British Immigrant
Jamie Calderon, Whittier College
Chloe Fung, Whittier College
Sharon Davis, Fresno State University
Chelsea Bartilad, Whittier College, Child of Filipino immigrants
Melanie Gichane, Whittier College, Child of Kenyan Immigrants
Jun Li, UCLA, Child of Chinese immigrants
John San Nicolas, The University of New Mexico, Child of Mexican immigrant family
Joanna Lam, LIU Brooklyn, Child of Vietnamese Refugees
Alicia Huynh, Cornell University, Child of Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants
Rena Weintraub, Cornell University
Omar Guerrero, Franklin and Marshall College ‘22// Yale University’24, Child of Mexican immigrants
Nikolai Kochel, Kutztown University
Minna Adlan, Middlesex University
Alexandra (Sasha) Belyablya, Cornell University, Child of Jewish- Ukrainian refugees
Evan Michaels, American University
Peter Froderman, Georgetown University , United Nations Association
Chanrachna Bun, Paññāsāstra University
Kristina Chau, York College of Pennsylvania, Child of Vietnamese immigrants
Jesse McCormick, Yale University
Maxwell Harris, American University
Aj Mercurio, American University
Anagha Rao, American University, Child of Indian Immigrants
Madeline Gage, Cornell University , Cornell ACLU
Elina Han, Cornell University, Child of Chinese immigrants
Claire Wu, Cornell University
Emily Cheng, Cornell University, Child of Chinese immigrants
Qinyi Wang, Yale University
Chris Huang, Cornell University
Harper Woolcock, American University
Joyce Choi, American University (alum)
Cassy Ying, Cornell University
Amara Sengamohan, Children of Cambodian and Laotian Refugees
Cathryn Lamour, Cornell University Alum/UPenn Grad student, Child of Haitian Immigrants
Sarah Phommachanthone, University of Virginia, Child of Laotian Immigrants
Kiri Chhun, PCAD, Child of Cambodian Refugee
Madison Rosen, Harvard University
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