Thien Ho is officially Sacramento’s first Asian American District Attorney. He was sworn in at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, The Sacramento Bee reports.
Ho came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam. He has worked in the DA’s office since 2004 and has served as interim DA when former DA Anne Marie Schubert left office last month.
According to Capital Public Radio (CPR), Ho ran on a progressive platform.
“People want to feel safe and be safe — safe where they raise their families, safe where they work, safe where they take their kids to the park,” he told the CPR in an interview. “And they want to have equal justice, I think it’s important to bridge that gap and make sure we build trust with all communities.”
He added that he wants to tackle the unhoused crisis by thinking of solutions beyond just throwing people in jail.
“In regards to the homeless crisis, we really need to tackle that with mental health and drug addiction support, in addition to the transitional housing aspect of it,” Ho told CPR. “I want to call together a homeless summit, bringing the county, city, everybody together at the same room at the same table to have these discussions so we have a cohesive plan, short term, mid term and long term.”
Ho hopes to use his experience as a refugee to help others.
“I’m an immigrant, a refugee,” he told The Sacramento Bee. “I know what it’s like to be poor and to have nothing. “I know what it’s like to be a victim of crime, but I also know that intricacies of working within the system to make sure that all voices of our justice system work.”
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