Being a immigrant in my opinion is absolutely no like winning the lottery as adapting to the new culture, schools, and language was a terrible experience for many that are apart of the Vietnamese American story. Enduring the trauma of racism, bullying, gangs, xenopobia was not be what I would analogize as winning the "lottery".
I'd dare you to ask Thuan, with a straight face, if he feels like he won the lottery. There was a element of luck but by no means you should think that refugees are winning the golden ticket by merely escaping.