The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and a political settlement in Cambodia in October 1991 created an atmosphere of flexibility and opportunity in the international arena that had been absent for decades. Amidst these larger changes, the American commitment to humanitarian issues continued. Washington and Hanoi signed the long-awaited Humanitarian Operation in July of 1989, the first reeducation camp prisoners arrived in the United States through the new program in January of 1990, and the United States included detainees in the April 1991 Roadmap. NGOs like the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoner Association helped create the momentum that made emigration for former reeducation camp detainees one of the top concerns on the American agenda.

Members of Congress also played a vital role in dictating the scope and pace of US-SRV relations.By passing resolutions that became institutionalized in US policy, forming influential committees, corresponding privately with Vietnamese leaders, sending delegations to Vietnam, making speeches, and fomenting domestic constituencies, legislators both accelerated and hindered US-Vietnamese ties. While nonexecutive advocacy remained vital, other key features of the US position shifted noticeably. The Bush administration reframed “full accounting” and embraced repatriation, positions which were hotly contested among US officials.

The humanitarian issues and nonexecutive advocacy that constituted the basis of ongoing US-Vietnamese dialogue in the absence of formal relations remained of pivotal importance before, during, and after Washington and Hanoi resumed formal economic and diplomatic relations in the mid-1990s. Although American policymakers attempted to conclude the humanitarian programs they had earmarked as preconditions to more formal ties, varying definitions of full accounting, the repatriation of migrants to Vietnam through the CPA, and efforts to bring the HO into line with worldwide standards precipitated profound disagreements. Ultimately, US officials moved forward with formal relations with Hanoi and (re)created special programs for South Vietnamese migrants. The 1996 Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese Refugees gave screened-out migrants who were repatriated to Vietnam under the CPA one more chance to apply for resettlement in the US.The 1996 McCain Amendment created loopholes to permit the original, exceptional terms of the HO to remain intact. US-Vietnamese collaboration on humanitarian issues, and normalization itself, persisted after the resumption of formal economic and diplomatic relations. The ties between American and South Vietnamese people outlasted both the collapse of South Vietnam and the resumption of relations between Washington and Hanoi.