Iu Mien Americans are primarily former refugees of the Secret War in Laos and the Vietnam War. While some Iu Mien families were granted political asylum and the opportunity to resettle in the United States prior to 1980, the great majority of Iu Mien immigrants to the U.S. arrived following the Refugee Act of 1980. Between the late 1970s to the early 1990s, thousands of Mien immigrants resettled mainly on the West Coast of the U.S. Today, the Iu Mien American population is estimated to be at 50,000 - 70,000.