The State - News from March 31, 1986

After social workers received anonymous death threats over aid cutoffs, the Fresno County welfare director asked for cooperation from Southeast Asian refugees who have requested public assistance. In a meeting attended by 1,000 Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants, director Ben Kelley explained that welfare workers make unannounced visits to recipients’ homes to check compliance with welfare regulations. The visits, which resulted in some cutoffs when recipients were found to have more valuable possessions than they are allowed, were believed to have triggered the death threats.