My name is Tot Le. I am an attorney living in Galveston. I am announcing my candidacy for Galveston County Court at Law Number 2. I am asking for your support and vote. My family achieved the American dream, but it was far from easy.
My family fled Vietnam and came to the United States as refugees. We were persecuted by the Vietnamese communist regime. My parents came here with courage, honor, integrity, pride, determination, industry, and ambition. They had four small children. My parents didn’t speak much English, except a few words that they learned at the refugees’ camp. In fact, they had no idea what life in the U.S.A. would be like. But my parents knew that wherever we went they would work hard to provide for their four minor children.
When we arrived in the United States, our family was assigned to the Allen Parkway Village housing project in downtown Houston. My parents did not like to be on government assistance and wanted to be self-sufficient. There were charitable Christian organizations that came to Allen Parkway every weekend to provide transportation to people who would agree to convert to Christianity. My parents respected other religions, but were brought up Buddhists and did not want to abandon their faith. So my parents would walk for miles to buy groceries for us. They learned from a friend that they could pick trash along the freeway to earn twenty dollars a day. They wanted to purchase a vehicle so they picked up trash for a whole year to save a thousand dollars to buy a car. Sometimes my parents got very thirsty picking up trash in the heat. A can of coke was only a quarter, but they did not dare to splurge because it would eat into their savings for a car and our future. In the evening my parents studied English.
After purchasing a vehicle my parents had transportation and followed a friend to his job in an upholstery shop. My parents provided free labor to their friend, so they could learn the trade from him. They packed their lunch and did odd jobs to get money for gasoline to drive to the upholstery shop. My parents worked every day for over a year without pay to learn the upholstery trade. After a year, they were able to find a job and move out of the Allen Parkway Housing Project. They worked 10 to 12 hours a day in other people’s upholstery shops. After three years of working for other people, my parents started their own business, N&D Custom Upholstery. Through hard work, frugality and the blessings of God, my parents bought a house with the money they saved and were able to provide us with food, shelter, and a good education.
My parents wanted all four of their children to be college educated. My father only got to the fifth grade in Vietnam before he had to go to work on a fishing boat to help support his family. My mom only had a third grade education because my maternal grandfather considered that education was wasted on women. My parents achieved the American dream: they have a successful business over the past thirty-five years, they own their home, and have four successful college educated children. My parents have me, a lawyer, two sons who are peace officers, and a son who is a computer engineer. They have instilled us faith, hard work, determination, integrity, honor, pride, and drive.
I have been practicing law for twenty (20) years. I am a general practitioner, but concentrate in criminal law. I have handled family, civil, probate, juvenile, and criminal cases. I have represented clients in state and federal court. I have represented clients all over Texas and Louisiana. Not only am I licensed to practice in the State of Texas, but I am also licensed in all four Texas districts of the United States District Court as well as the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals in New Orleans. I have handled cases from trial through appeal. I am bilingual in English and Vietnamese. I was the first Vietnamese-American female criminal law attorney in Houston. I have experience in all matters that would arise in Galveston County Court at Law Number 2.
I respect the Constitution and the laws. If elected, I will uphold the Constitution and protect the individual’s rights. I will preside and decide each case based upon the Constitution, the laws, and the merits of the case. I believe I am the reflection of the Galveston County community. I have lived the American Dream and I wish to give back to my community. I am humbly asking for your support and vote.
