The rainbow star mylar balloon Michael had at the fair was not among the prizes he carried back to the granddad's apartment.
The mother plans to get a job but without a green card there was no way in 1984 for a foreigner to get a legal job. Without her father-in-law's cooperating to get her legal papers, which he wasn't since he evicted them from his home and said he wanted nothing to do with them, there would have been no way for her to get a green card or citizenship.
The grandson should have been signed up for free lunch program at school due to low income family.
Cops or security guards could have chased away the bullies from school grounds. The kid should have gotten all his money back.
The actress Haunani Ninn who plays Lan Nguyen was from Hawaii, not Vietnam. She passed away in 2004.