How Little Saigon Became the Heart of Vietnamese America
By Kelli Luu | 01 Aug, 2026

After the fall of Saigon, Orange County’s Little Saigon has developed into a cultural and economic center of the Vietnamese diaspora.

Tucked between Westminster, Garden Grove, and Anaheim lies Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese community in the United States and this community’s story begins with one of the largest refugee migrations in American history. 

After the fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, approximately 125,000 Vietnamese refugees fled the country and came to the United States. Many of them first arrived at Camp Pendleton in San Diego before officially resettling throughout the country with the help of nonprofits and sponsorship programs. Even though refugees were dispersed throughout the U.S., a large number made their way back to Southern California. 

Orange County was appealing because of its similar warm climate to South Vietnam and so refugees deemed it as the perfect place to begin a new life. By the late 1970s, the Vietnamese community was blossoming with Vietnamese-owned grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies, and jewelry shops all around Westminster. Dozens of family-owned businesses were serving a rapidly growing community and in 1978, Người Việt Daily News became the very first Vietnamese newspaper published outside of Vietnam, which completely helped connect the refugee community with one another. 

One of the people responsible for the area’s development is Vietnamese businessman Frank Jao. He bought empty land alongside Bolsa Avenue and in 1987 he opened the Asian Garden Mall, a shopping center that has become the heart of Little Saigon. The Asian Garden Mall serves as the community’s go to spot for dining, festivals, and cultural celebrations and helps bring in 20,000-50,000 shoppers every weekend. 

The Orderly Departure Program of 1979 allowed more Vietnamese families to legally immigrate to the U.S., causing Orange County’s Vietnamese population to increase heavily. The community expanded from a small neighborhood of storefronts to a thriving commercial district with thousands of Vietnamese businesses. 

By 1988, the City of Westminster was officially designated as Little Saigon, recognizing it as the center of Vietnamese America. 50 years later and the community still continues to flourish today, standing as a symbol of determination of the Vietnamese refugees who rebuilt their lives from the ground up, marking the beginning of Vietnamese American history.